How the White House spun ‘weak’ and ‘inconclusive’ studies to tie Tylenol to autism

The release creates the appearance of extra evidence by linking to the same studies multiple times, Jeffrey Singer said. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

The White House recently issued a press release with links to scientific studies to back up Trump’s claim that use of acetaminophen, commonly referred to as Tylenol, during pregnancy causes autism, but those studies provided only “weak” and “inconclusive” evidence, according to physicians with expertise in reviewing medical research who spoke to the Guardian.

Jeffrey Singer, a surgeon and senior fellow at the Cato Institute who has written about the Tylenol/autism claims, said that the links in the White House press release showed that the claims contained a political spin.