Claims from the Trump White House about links between use of the painkiller acetaminophen – often sold under the brand name Tylenol in the U.S. – during pregnancy and development of autism have set off a deluge of responses across the medical, scientific and public health communities.
As a father of a child with level 2 autism – meaning autism that requires substantial support – and a statistician who works with such tools as those used in the association studies cited by the White House, I find it useful to think about the nuances of association versus causation in observational studies. I hope that this explanation is helpful to parents and expecting parents who, like me, are deeply invested in the well-being of their children.
