Republican senator publicly questions Trump announcement linking autism to acetaminophen use during pregnancy
By Morgan Rimmer, CNN
(CNN) — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana doctor who chairs the Senate health committee, is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to release any evidence tying acetaminophen use during pregnancy to autism, noting that “the preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case.”
“I understand and applaud President Trump’s desire to address this issue and to support HHS. HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim. The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case,” he wrote Monday on X. “The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem.”
Trump announced Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration will notify doctors that the use of Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with a “very increased risk of autism,” despite decades of evidence that it is safe. Experts say there are multiple causes of autism, and the science showing a connection between autism and Tylenol is not settled.
“They are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary,” such as to treat fever, “if you can’t tough it out,” Trump said, speaking from the White House alongside US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others.
In February, Cassidy cast a deciding vote to confirm Kennedy to lead HHS. The senator, however, has before pushed back on Kennedy’s claims about vaccines and as recently as last week, would not say whether he would vote to confirm Kennedy if given the choice now.
“I am steadfastly not judging until we have a chance to hear the secretary’s perspective,” he told reporters, after he led a hearing where the ousted director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, testified about her clashes with the health secretary.
Cassidy is up for reelection in 2026, and given his previous vote to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection after January 6, 2021, the Louisiana senator will be walking a political tightrope to keep the president from endorsing any of his primary opponents.
He has been careful to not directly criticize the president or Kennedy, despite expressing concern at some CDC and HHS actions.
Most recently, Cassidy has warned that the new federal vaccine advisory committee’s proposal to change recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccination would put children at risk. The panel ultimately delayed its vote on that proposal. Cassidy, a liver doctor, has long advocated for greater access to the vaccine.
“President Trump and I agree: vaccines save lives. If a mom wants to get a lifesaving hepatitis B vaccine to protect her newborn, she should be able to get it,” he said on X last week. “The proposed (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) recommendation could have put that access at risk, making it harder for that mom or that parent to protect their child against hepatitis B.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
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