Overview
- At an Oct. 9 Cabinet meeting, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said boys circumcised early have double the autism rate and called Tylenol a likely reason, without naming specific studies.
- Experts point to major flaws in the often-cited 2013 ecological paper and a 2015 Danish cohort, which did not track acetaminophen use and cannot establish cause and effect.
- Newer, higher‑quality research, including a 2024 JAMA sibling analysis, finds no causal link between prenatal acetaminophen and autism, and pediatric groups report no evidence that early-life Tylenol or circumcision causes autism.
- Republican senators Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, who supported Kennedy’s confirmation, said they were surprised by the circumcision remarks as polling shows sharp partisan splits over related Tylenol claims.
- Kennedy says media distorted his comments and the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce defended him as not targeting religious practice, while Tylenol maker Kenvue rejected any tie between acetaminophen and autism and warned of public confusion.