• Posted September 26, 2025

Tylenol Refutes Old Post as Pregnancy Safety Debate Resurfaces

The maker of Tylenol is pushing back against resurfaced claims that its popular pain reliever is unsafe for pregnant women.

Kenvue, the parent company of Tylenol, issued a statement Thursday after an old and now-deleted 2017 social media post resurfaced suggesting it did not recommend “any of our products while pregnant.” 

The company now says that post, in response to a since-deleted customer tweet, was incomplete and taken out of context, The New York Times stated.

The company’s guidance "has not changed: Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy,” Kenvue said. "We recommend pregnant women do not take any over-the-counter medication, including acetaminophen, without talking to their doctor first."

The clarification comes after President Donald Trump and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned this week that pregnant women should avoid acetaminophen, citing unproven claims that it may cause autism.

“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump said at a White House press conference, though he provided no new evidence against its use. “Fight like hell not to take it,” he added.

Many experts strongly disagreed with Trump’s urging. 

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said there is no credible scientific link between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism, according to The Times.

“In more than two decades of research on the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy, not a single reputable study has successfully concluded that the use of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children,” ACOG President Dr. Steven Fleischman said.

"Acetaminophen is one of the few options available to pregnant patients to treat pain and fever, which can be harmful to pregnant people when left untreated," he added in a statement.

Doctors note that untreated fevers early in pregnancy have been tied to serious birth defects, including neural tube defects and some heart conditions.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more on autism.

SOURCE: The New York Times, Sept. 25, 2025