HJNO Nov/Dec 2025

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  NOV / DEC 2025 17 say there are parts of the world that don’t take Tylenol. I mean, there’s a rumor, and I don’t know if it’s so or not, that Cuba, they don’t have Tylenol because they don’t have the money for Tylenol, and they have vir- tually no autism. Okay. Tell me about that one. And there are other parts of the world where they don’t have Tylenol, where they don’t have autism. That tells you a lot. And I want to say it right now, and the way I look at it, don’t take it. Don’t take it. There’s no downside in not taking it. So, I’d like to ask Bobby to come up and say a few words. I hope I didn’t ruin his day, but that’s the way I feel. I’ve been very strong on the subject for a long time. Life is common sense too, and there’s a lot of common sense in this, and I wish things like this were brought up, and this group has worked so hard on it. But I’d like to be a little speedier in the process of a rec- ommendation because there’s no harm in going quicker. There’s absolutely no harm. At worst, there’s no harm. Thank you very much, Bobby, please. Kennedy Thank you, Mr. President. To meet the president’s challenge, I ordered HHS to launch an unprecedented all-agency effort to identify all cause of autism, including toxic and pharmaceutical exposures. At President Trump’s urging, NIH, FDA, CDC, and CMS are turning over every stone to identify the etiology of the autism epidemic and how patients and parents can prevent and reverse this alarming trend. We have broken down the traditional silos that have long separated these agencies, and we have fast-tracked research and guidance. Historically, NIH has focused almost solely on politically safe and entirely fruit- less research about the genetic drivers of autism. And that would be studying the genetic drivers of lung cancer without looking at cigarettes, and that’s what NIH has been doing for 20 years. As a result, we don’t have an answer to this critical ques- tion. Despite the cataclysmic impact of the epidemic on our nation’s children, we are now replacing the institutional culture of politicized science and corruption with evi- dence-based medicine. NIH research teams are currently testing multiple hypotheses with no area off-limits. We promise trans- parency as we uncover the potential causes and treatments, and we will notify the public regularly of our progress. Today we are announcing two impor- tant findings from our autismwork that are vital for parents to know as they make these decisions. First, HHS will act on acetamino- phen. The FDA is responding to clinical and laboratory studies that suggest a potential association between acetaminophen used during pregnancy and adverse neurodevel- opmental outcomes, including later diagno- sis for ADHD and autism. Scientists have proposed biological mechanisms linking prenatal acetamino- phen exposure to altered brain develop- ment. We have also evaluated the contrary studies that show no association. Today, the FDAwill issue a physician’s notice about the risk of acetaminophen during pregnancy and begin the process to initiate a safety label change. HHS will launch a nationwide public service campaign to inform families and protect public health. The FDAalso rec- ognized that acetaminophen is often the only tool for fevers and pain in pregnancy, as other alternatives have well-documented adverse effects. HHS wants, therefore, to encourage clinicians to exercise their best judgment and use of acetaminophen for fevers and pain in pregnancy by prescrib- ing the lowest effective dose for the short- est necessary duration and only when treat- ment is required. Furthermore, thanks also to the politici- zation of science, the safety of acetamino- phen against the risk of neurodevelopmen- tal disorders in young children has never been validated. Prudent medicine therefore suggests caution in acetaminophen use in young children, especially since strong evi- dence also has associated it with liver tox- icity. Some studies have also found the use of acetaminophen in children can poten- tially prolong viral illnesses. The FDA will drive new research to safeguard mothers, children, and families. In addition to a possible acetaminophen connection to autism for pregnant women, infants, and toddlers, our research has revealed that folate deficiency in a child’s brain can lead to autism. We have also iden- tified an exciting therapy that may benefit large numbers of children who suffer from autism. Peer-reviewed literature has docu- mented that up to 60% of folate-deficient children with ASD can have improved ver- bal communications if given leucovorin. I have instructed NIH, FDA, and CMS to help doctors treat children appropriately. Jay will help tell that story, which started with sound science, the kind that restores faith in gov- ernment. This announcement also repre- sents a historic collaboration between NIH, FDA, CDC, and CMS. We expect this to be the first of many announcements over the coming years that deliver actionable infor- mation to parents on underlying cause of autism and the potential paths for preven- tion and reversal. Finally, autism is a complex disorder with multifactorial etiology. We are continuing to investigate a multiplicity of potential causes where no areas of taboo. One area that we are closely examining, as the presi- dent mentioned, is vaccines. Some 40% to 70% of mothers who have children with autism believe that their child was injured by a vaccine. President Trump believes that we should be listening to these moth- ers instead of gaslighting and marginalizing them, like prior administrations. Some of our friends like to say that we should believe all women. Some of these same people have been silencing and demonizing these moth- ers for three decades because research on the potential link between autism and vac- cines has been actively suppressed in the past. It will take time for an honest look at this topic by scientists, but I want to reas- sure the people in the autism community that we will be uncompromising and relent- less in our search for answers. We will per- form the studies that should have been per- formed 25 years ago. Whatever the answer is, we will tell you what we find. We are