Since President Trump appointed him to the put up of Well being and Human Providers Secretary in November of 2024, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has made plenty of well being claims at odds with established medical science.

These positions have largely spared assaults at particular manufacturers, till as we speak.

Talking on the Oval Workplace, President Trump—flanked by Kennedy and different officers—introduced that the FDA will quickly take the official line that acetaminophen taken throughout being pregnant constitutes “a really elevated threat of autism,” regardless of long-established research indicating that its use is secure.

The announcement took a step past a warning concerning the drug to direct the crosshairs on the main model that sells it. “Taking Tylenol will not be good,” the President stated, including: “With Tylenol, don’t take it, don’t take it.”

Even when Trump hadn’t name-checked Tylenol, the announcement nonetheless constitutes a serious headache for the 70-year-old model. Tylenol is synonymous with acetaminophen. Its mum or dad firm Kenvue tops the $10.4 billion world acetaminophen class with a 15% market share, in line with knowledge from World Market Insights.

Relying on how critically the general public takes as we speak’s announcement, Tylenol gross sales could undergo. Kenvue’s share value had already dipped by 6% noon on Monday.

Kennedy seems to have been influenced by a current paper by epidemiologists from the Harvard T.H. Chan College of Public Well being and Mount Sinai’s Icahn College of Medication, which suggests “an affiliation
between acetaminophen publicity throughout being pregnant and elevated incidence of NDDs [neurodevelopmen-
tal disorders.]” The authors additionally said that their work didn’t show a definitive hyperlink.

Tylenol and Kenvue wasted no time taking to the battlements.

“We consider impartial, sound science clearly reveals that taking acetaminophen doesn’t trigger autism,” Kenvue shared with ADWEEK in an announcement. “We strongly disagree with any suggestion in any other case and are deeply involved with the well being threat this poses for anticipating moms.”

The assertion continued: “The info are that over a decade of rigorous analysis, endorsed by main medical professionals and world well being regulators, confirms there is no such thing as a credible proof linking acetaminophen to autism.”

If the circumstances are proper, manufacturers might be weak to crucial statements made within the public sphere. In 2004, for instance, the film Tremendous Measurement Me (during which director Morgan Spurlock lived solely off McDonald’s for 30 days) put the chain’s menu below the microscope. A short while later, McDonald’s discontinued its mega parts and boosted its salad choices.

Kennedy has already gone on the document with plenty of medical claims which might be at odds with scientific analysis. 

Last year, U.S. retail sales of food and beverages containing Red Dye 3 hit $4.2 billion.