On Monday, September 22, 2025, President Donald Trump announced that public health experts in his administration had found a link between women taking the pain reliever and fever reducer acetaminophen—better known in the U.S. by the brand name Tylenol—during pregnancy, and children developing autism. Tylenol has been recommended for years to women for pain and fever management during pregnancy, as it is safe for the developing fetus. This is in contrast to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve) that carry fetal risk.
The highest quality studies have failed to conclude that taking Tylenol at any stage of pregnancy causes autism, or any other form of neurodiversity or intellectual disability. The president’s announcement did not reference any new research that would change these findings. Oversimplifying the causes of autism or recommending unfounded treatments is harmful to impacted families.
Fever is a serious risk to the health of mother and baby, and Tylenol is a safe, effective drug for reducing fever and mitigating potentially tragic outcomes. Providers in maternal fetal medicine at Dartmouth Health, and in pediatrics at Dartmouth Health Children’s, will continue to recommend the use of Tylenol as needed to pregnant women as the safest available over-the-counter option for reducing pain and fever.
We will continue to follow guidance and recommendations from our professional organizations; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.
About Dartmouth Health Children's
Dartmouth Health Children’s is the only comprehensive pediatric healthcare system in the region with the first integrative medicine children’s hospital in the country. Fully integrated in Dartmouth Health and anchored for more than 30 years by Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) in Lebanon, NH, Dartmouth Health Children’s promotes health, advances knowledge, and delivers the best patient- and family-centered care for infants, children, and adolescents across New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health Children’s conducts groundbreaking research and educates the next generations of health professionals as the primary pediatric partner of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Highly skilled, inclusive, and collaborative children’s health professionals provide care in multiple settings across the region. A unique partnership between DH and the state of New Hampshire provides the only inpatient psychiatric care for children and adolescents in the state at Hampstead Hospital. Outpatient specialty visits and same-day surgery services are available at more than 20 locations, including all Dartmouth Health member locations, throughout New Hampshire and Vermont.