Trump claimed Tylenol is linked to autism. Emergency room data just revealed a hard truth about the anti-painkiller crusade

A new report shows the troubling medical impact of the president’s statements.

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Last September, President Donald Trump took the stage at a White House press conference to give America some (completely unfounded) medical advice.

“Taking Tylenol is not good,” Trump said. “I’ll say it: It’s not good.”

Trump alleged that Tylenol, aka acetaminophen, is linked to autism, and that pregnant women taking the common painkiller increases the likelihood of their children being autistic. Trump had no scientific evidence to back up his claim, nor the support of the broader medical community—and yet, his critique of Tylenol had an impact on America’s emergency rooms nearly overnight.

A new study in The Lancet shows that between Trump’s speech on September 22 and the end of the study period on December 7, acetaminophen orders for pregnant patients ages 15 to 44 in emergency rooms declined by 10%. Meanwhile, orders for non-pregnant women in the same age range did not see any significant change.

Dr. Jeremy Faust, the lead researcher on the study, told NPR that Trump’s words “had an immediate impact on how much Tylenol or acetaminophen was being ordered in emergency departments.”

“This is thousands of women not getting pain control or not getting fever reduction when they need it, when they want it, when they would benefit from it,” he said.

Whether the drop in Tylenol orders was due to patients refusing the drug or doctors choosing not to prescribe it is unclear. The study was also limited to emergency departments, and did not account for other hospital departments nor for women potentially taking Tylenol at home.

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