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The White House put out a statement referencing scientific studies to back assertions that Tylenol use during pregnancy leads to autism, but physicians characterize the findings as “weak” and “inconclusive”.

Press Release Presents Impression of Additional Support

As stated by a surgeon and senior fellow, the official statement creates the appearance of more support by citing the same studies repeatedly.

For instance, a study published this August from Harvard and Mount Sinai appears like two separate studies, and a Johns Hopkins research is also linked twice.

It’s claimed a Harvard study discovered the same thing as the Hopkins study and the Mount Sinai paper. It can give the appearance that identical findings have been achieved in multiple studies, all from renowned institutions,” Singer explained.

Association vs Causation: Key Distinction

A physician from Stanford expressed concern that the press release “makes me sick in my stomach, because it “presents association as causation.

There is a greater standard for proving causation than correlation. Demonstrating cause would mean demonstrating that stopping use to Tylenol would actually reduce the autism incidence.

For example, rising ice cream sales might be linked to heat-related illness, only because both happen during hot weather, but prohibiting sales of ice cream would not lower the heat stroke cases.

Research Notes Shortcomings

Not one paper cited by the statement claim to have proven causation. In fact, all of them acknowledge they cannot definitively establish cause, though some use more reserved language than others.

One way to quickly find the scope of a study’s claims is to search for key terms like “causal”, “cause and effect”, “correlation”, “constraints”, “warning”, and “additional research”.

Biological Mechanisms Claim Falls Apart

Once you actually start reading the research, more of the statements in the statement begin to unravel, specialists noted.

For instance, the release states that scientists have proposed physiological processes linking acetaminophen use during pregnancy to changes in brain growth.

But the research cited to illustrate a biological mechanism fails to provide one. Instead, the authors write: The processes behind the links are not understood.”

Omitted Research and Confounding Factors

Another way to fact check the research assertions is to examine what research is being left out.

For example, the press release left out a Swedish study released last year that tracked nearly two and a half million births and compared siblings.

Singer clarified that the association disappears when siblings are compared, who have many more genetic and environmental similarities than control groups in different research.

“This suggests that links seen in other models may have been due to other factors,” the authors wrote.

Habit of Using Poor Research

Singer and Scott concur that the assertions about acetaminophen are reminiscent of arguments against vaccines.

Scott stated that it follows a trend of using poor-quality research based on flawed scientific papers.

This is a recurring issue of leveraging inadequate proof that’s derived from substandard research,” Scott said.

In summary, physicians caution that the research connecting Tylenol to autism is far from conclusive and advise further investigation before drawing firm conclusions.