By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Recent studies indicate that 50–65% of pregnant women in North America and Europe report using acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) at least once during pregnancy.
Bandoli et al, 2019 in the MotherToBaby pregnancy cohort (2004–2018) reported that 62% of 2,441 pregnant women used acetaminophen during pregnancy, with a slight decline over time (from 70% in 2009–2010 to 58% in 2017–2018).
A 2024 study from the Illinois Kids Development Study noted that 50–65% of pregnant women in North America and Europe take acetaminophen or medications containing it during pregnancy.
Sznajder, et al, 2022 used data from the First Baby Study in Pennsylvania and found that 41.7% of 2,423 mothers reported acetaminophen use during pregnancy, though this may be an underestimate due to self-reporting limitations and data collection only up to the third trimester.
All of the currently recommended vaccines for pregnant women list fever and pain as expected side effects to which mothers would respond by taking Tylenol in order to control symptoms and reduce the chances precipitating fetal loss or premature delivery.
Perry et al, reported a study of 737 pregnant women receiving the TDaP vaccine, fever was listed among reported reactions, though not quantified separately; overall, 67% experienced at least one reaction (e.g., pain, swelling, fever, or body aches).
Rodriguez-Blanco et al published survey results from 421 vaccinated pregnant women in whom 8.6% reported side effects overall after influenza vaccination, but fever was not explicitly quantified; reported issues included cold-like symptoms without fever (about 4% of total vaccinated) and injection-site pain (about 2.9%).
In 2015 the FDA put out a warning about antipyretics and analgesics during pregnancy and cited the ADHD acetaminophen association. So was RFK and Makary really telling America anything new about acetaminophen during pregnancy?
So can acetaminophen be the cause of neuropsychiatric disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) an autism? Dr. McCullough told Rob Finnerty on NewsMax that the clinical indication for the use of Tylenol, specifically maternal vaccination, and probably not the Tylenol itself is the proximal risk factor for neuropsychiatric sequelae in babies.
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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
President, McCullough Foundation
