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Tylenol is a brand. Acetominophen was created in 1878 (or 1852, depending on who you ask).
e: That doesn’t make RFKJr not wrong and insane, in case it needed saying.
Over half of Americans read at a 6th-grade level or lower and our President speaks at a 4th-grade level. How many you suppose know Tylenol and acetaminophen are the same thing?
Just wait till they hear what big pharma is doing with paracetamol
I could totally see acetaminophen makers rebranding with a “new” paracetamol
lol my guess is like 70% of people in the us don’t know what acetaminophen or paracetamol are, so Tylenol could just come out with Lonelyt Extra Stength and bam, sales
Ah!
There’s dihydrogen monoxide in my drinking water!
Ahhhhh!
It’s on the box.
Look at the elitist over here that knows how to read : P
I never learned and you can’t make me.
Not to mention, this doesnt prove tylenol doesnt cause cancer, it just proves that tylenol isnt the only cause of cancer.
Obv it doesnt, but this argument is just bad.
you fucked the argument lol
He is absolutely insane
Do you think RFK knows this?
The logic of the ‘meme’ is just bad. Something being identified before something else does not mean the second thing cannot create the first.
Cancer existed before cigarettes, yet cigarettes still cause cancer. Using this ‘meme’s’ logic, “anyone trying to tell you that cigarettes cause cancers is entirely full of crap”.
This is another dumb take. Cigarettes don’t cause cancer, they increase cancer risk.
RFK is claiming he knows the cause of Autism not something that can increases its risks.
The logic of this meme is sound.
it’s a bad argument, but the people claiming that Tylenol causes autism aren’t using logic to make their claim either.
Listen I know the RFK claim is nonsense but that doesn’t excuse faulty logic. This is like saying cancer existed before X so X can’t be a carcinogen.
There are many countries worldwide that use a fraction of this drug compared to the US. Americans eat them like candy. Regardless, there is no difference in incidence of autism.
Just because something already exists, doesn’t mean it can’t be also caused by something else. Like canser. It already exists. But smoking can cause it too.
Next to that, it’s paracetamol. It predates the discovery/naming of autism. It’s already proven not to be the cause by other studies. Of course these studies could have been wrong, but I highly doubt that.
So this statement is incorrect. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t believe a word of either Trump or RFK. I still believe science and I still don’t believe pseudoscience.
Tylenol is just a paracetamol brand name in the US. TIL
I was kinda shocked when I learnt this. Like finding out that Digestive biscuits were called Graham crackers.
Their origin is a pretty interesting read too.
Yep it’s just Paracetamol (aka Acetaminophen depending on your locality). Always buy the generic, it’s the same shit in a less flashy box.
Paracetamol, acetaminophen, and Tylenol are all shortened names of N-acetyl-para-aminophenol, putting together different bits of the chemical name.
Paracetamol was first made in the 1800’s though.
Or are they just blaming a certain brand?
It’s a brand thing, obviously.
It’s always about money.
Wonder what the announcement will be? Wonder which drug they’ll push and which of Trumps cronies will own the pharma company
Dr Oz as another poster said on another post.
Literally no Americans know what paracetamol is. Randomly ask anyone.
Americans know brand names: Tylenol, Advil, Prilosec, Ambien.
I’ll bet you could survey Americans and 999/1000 have never even have heard the word paracetamol. Or zolpidem, and slightly less often, omeprazole (though that one may be increasing due to the general state of things and subsequent need for prescriptions). Most won’t have heard anything but the brand names, and the brand names have been drilled into their heads by way of constant advertising.
US brands have spend stupid amounts of money making sure people think of their propriety name instead of the real name of any drug.
I know several Americans who know what paracetamol is. Not sure it’s as rare as you think.
I know almost all my meds by the generic names because I’m broke and that’s what the pharmacy will give me. Ibuprofen, levothyroxine, etc. Alprazolam.
I most certainly do because I’ve traveled a lot
But people that lump all Americans are just as ignorant as who they’re trying to criticize
I’m not ‘lumping all Americans’.
I’ve lived here for decades. I’m quite solidly informed.
The argument would be that autism is on the rise, not that it’s a new thing. I’m assuming this crowd understands the “rise” is from finer-tuned diagnoses. Hell, there may be another factor, but money says it ain’t Tylenol.
Paracetamol, what you lot call acetaminophen, was first synthesized in 1877(or maybe much earlier in 1852). It wasnt widely used until the 1950s. Tylenol is a brand name that means fuck all to any conversation.
It means a lot to the company that owns the Tylenol brand. People would be fools not to try suing.
No, you see he said “asseattomanefin” first. So, its totally fine…
Hang on, I’ve got Assetto Corsa’s lawyers on the phone…
… Tylenol is Acetaminophen, unless some atypical specialized formula. Just like Advil is typically just Ibuprofen.
What do you think I meant with “brand name”? You do realise that Tylenol is a brand, and not the actual drug, right?
Oh, I see, sorry. I thought you were saying not to take Tylenol.
Tylenol is Acetaminophen
… which most of the world calls paracetamol.
There’s no time or resources in the world to debunk all the bullshit this people generate. Every day, all the time…
“Firehose of falsehoods” is the term, i believe.
There’s a 100% correlation between a child coming into direct physical contact with their family doctor and that same child later being diagnosed with autism. Show me an example where this was not the case. Family doctors are sporing autismomes like a tickled mushroom and no one is talking about it.
Delectable comment. I enjoyed every word.
There is some data to suggest there may be a link.
However. The data is very limited. Mt sinai did a meta of 46 studies and found a link (not necessarily causal). A Swedish population study of like 2.5 million children found no link. Etc.
The modest increase that could exist is unclear and confounded. Is it Tylenol or is something that the Tylenol is being taken for? Eg if the mom is having frequent headaches or fevers is the underlying condition impacting development and making it look like Tylenol does?
But why?
Two big answers:
Kenvue (Tylenol manufacturer) is not exactly a “pharmaceutical giant”. They’re a much easier target for rfk to go after with much less in terms of resources. They absolutely will sue though and appear to be preparing to do so though. But going after vaccines (his big target), especially stuff like Covid vaccines, means going after real pharmaceutical giants. Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, etc. deeeeeep pockets and serious legal teams. This may be a fight he feels he can “win” to start gaining momentum and precedent.
IMO the bigger reason is political capital. He has a large following of desperate parents that want an answer for why their child has autism or intellectual disability. I know a lot of people on here are like “autism is a superpower” and that’s great but these people are stuck in the disability mindset. It’s also important to remember that autism is a broad spectrum. Some of these parents have children that are nonverbal, that can’t toilet or shower independently, that get extremely violent when frustrated, that need 24/7 assistance and will never live independently. Of course some of them are just frustrated that their otherwise fine kid isn’t “normal” enough but that’s a whole other frustrating thing.
They’re desperate for answers. The reality of the situation is that there isn’t a simple answer. The overwhelming evidence suggests a combination of factors: genetics, environmental, social and behavioral. But this is unsatisfying. I’ve worked with people on this for years and when you say “it’s probably a combination of factors” they are never happy with that. They want something to blame. This is the political capital. He is giving them that. Basically everyone has taken Tylenol within the past year. Most pregnant women will take Tylenol at some point for discomfort, pain, fever, etc.
Now they will not only have the answer to “what did this”, they will have him as a person to hold up as the savior who gave them the answer. I saw the same thing happen when I started around 2010. Even though it was years after it happened people still attached to Wakefield and were so grateful he gave them the explanation that it was the MMR vaccine. They’d “protect their other children” as a result by not vaccinating them. Didn’t matter if you pointed out Wakefields proven financial links to an alternative MMR vaccine, the retraction of the paper, him getting his medical license revoked, etc. That’s how desperate they are for answers. FWIW Wakefield is still super rich and got married to literal supermodels so that’s why he doubled down and probably a major factor in why rfk is doing the same
Do you have any idea how common it is to give people, even kids, Tylenol?
I’m not looking up their meta, but I suspect it’s as informative as the meta that shows a “link” between autism and vaccines.
Might as well investigate a link between Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or wearing clothes.
Yes, I touched upon this towards the end of my (admittedly lengthy) post. Also, it’s not “their” meta. It’s a meta done by mt Sinai and Harvard (eg done with rigor) which openly admits the link cannot be established as causal because, as stated, there are many confounding factors to consider
I always turn these around and ask given the study size, what is the confidence interval of the number of autism diagnoses attributable to Tylenol?
Often the number is surprisingly low given the other factors (and frequently uncontrolled confounders.)
Not only that. But the sheer number of kids who didn’t develop autism but had Tylenol (or the vaccines! Same shit different goat.)
Like, most kids in the US had Tylenol. Most kids don’t develop autism. Other things most kids are exposed to: going outside. Going inside. Having a pb&j. Wearing clothing. Eating ice cream. The incidence of going to McDonald’s for soft serve and being told the machine is broke.
It’s patently ridiculous, and even if there’s a correlation, it’s pretty clear something else is going on, and you don’t have to be a physician to see that.
Given the overwhelming number of well structured studies showing no relationship, the meta analysis that potentially, may, if you quint and really try to bend the light to see it in a certain way, is simply too far away to have any meaningful value.
This is bad reasoning. For one the mt Sinai meta is not poorly structured. For two there’s not exactly an “overwhelming number” of contrary studies. For three there’s a number of studies besides the mt Sinai study. You dismiss the meta on lack of merit without actually examining it and place it against fantastical papers (that may or may not exist, and as mentioned the quantity of which is being exaggerated)
In addition to the mt Sinai paper 2 other similar papers came out in 2025 (one from Harvard, one from environmental health) showing a link. There’s also the danish birth study which showed a link between Tylenol and a specific presentation of autism (hyperkinetic symptoms, closer to adhd).
Papers to the contrary aren’t necessarily “overwhelming” either, there’s 3-4 metas recently that show no causal link and the big one is the Swedish birth study I referenced in the initial post. But that’s countered by the above metas and the danish birth study.
Therein lies the issue and why it’s a point of debate. RFK is wrong to do what he is doing because the data is not strong enough to make the bold claim that he is making. He is a charlatan and likely scamming somehow (perhaps to sell folinic acid, which also has spurious data for efficacy). However, on the same point to reject the potential of Tylenols impact entirely because RFK is interested in it as a potential causal factor is equally foolish. It could be a factor. We don’t know yet. It needs more exploration. This could increase funding to explore it potentially (which could be a total waste of time).
IMO you should probably listen to the mt Sinai paper, which recommends that you take Tylenol if necessary during pregnancy as “untreated maternal fever and pain pose risks such as neural tube defects and preterm birth” and ultimately recommends a balanced approach limiting Tylenol exposure, eg try not to take tons of it
My job and my team are expertis in clinical evidence within the UK. If the ABPI recognise our views, I think we’re good enough here.
Again, I think Tylenol is ultimately safe but I think it’s silly to hand wave entire well constructed papers based on the nothing you’ve presented (other than appeal to authority, which is meaningless, because this is an anonymous forum. I can literally say that I’m osterholm and you should listen to me (I’m not though)).
The debate is there, you’re clearly on the dissent side. Great, but at least substantiate your views
The point of picking Tylenol is so Trump can say he fixed autism, like the war between Aberbiajan and Albania.
That settles it, then. Obviously, autism was caused by time travel.
I fucked up some orgo im sorry
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2817406
Findings In this population-based study, models without sibling controls identified marginally increased risks of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) associated with acetaminophen use during pregnancy. However, analyses of matched full sibling pairs found no evidence of increased risk of autism (hazard ratio, 0.98), ADHD (hazard ratio, 0.98), or intellectual disability (hazard ratio, 1.01) associated with acetaminophen use.
I can’t wait to post this on social media. No one is going to respond and actually read a medical journal article but Bravo for this. Very interesting and telling. These people will take anything and run with it hardcore for an agenda my god lol
I only buy generic brand medications, so my kids are at risk of generic brand autism. Is this going to be a signifier of a low income upbringing when they reach adulthood?
Should I switch to name brand Tylenol for their future?
Yes, like Lego bricks Vs generic ones, the autism from those has higher fault tolerances
