In a new analysis published in The Lancet, researchers say a high-profile White House message about autism risk coincided with measurable changes in how some patients and clinicians used two medicines—Tylenol for pregnancy-related fever or pain and leucovorin for children with autism-related indications.
The study examined what it described as changes in drug ordering and prescribing after President Donald Trump promoted unproven ties between Tylenol and autism at an earlier White House briefing. For nearly three months afterward, the researchers reported, Tylenol orders for pregnant emergency department patients fell while prescriptions of leucovorin for children rose.
The authors said Tylenol orders were 10% lower than predicted for pregnant emergency department patients aged 15 to 44 during the study window, which ran from late September to early December. They also reported that outpatient prescriptions of leucovorin for children aged 5 to 17 were 71% higher than expected over the same period, suggesting a relationship between the briefing and prescribing decisions.
The researchers said they did not observe comparable shifts in similar medications, which they said points to the changes being tied to the briefing rather than to a broader trend in prescribing. They also noted a limitation: the study did not capture all Tylenol use by pregnant women because much of the drug is purchased over the counter outside hospital settings.
A pediatrician not involved with the research, Dr. Susan Sirota of Highland Park, Illinois, said the episode illustrated how health care can become politicized. “It just shows that in our country right now, health care has been politicized in a way that political messages are driving and impacting care — and not always for good,” Sirota said.
Sirota said she counseled patients after the federal announcement about the leucovorin and autism messaging. She said families asked about getting the drug for their autistic children, but that she educated them about the available evidence and potential side effects and did not prescribe it. She described the repercussions as difficult, saying it “feels like a pattern with our government, right? They keep building on these houses of cards that just fall down,” and adding that “This politicizing of medicine just in general, and moving away from science, has been so challenging.”
The Lancet authors said their approach focused on what would have happened if prescribing had continued on the pre-briefing trajectory. Dr. Michael Barnett, a co-author with Brown University School of Public Health, said the findings reflect how an unconventional political news event can influence care decisions.
Barnett said in the U.S. medical system, “there are lots of layers of approval and expert consensus” before officials make major announcements on medical topics. He also described the study as showing how political messages can drive not only patient behavior but also physician prescribing.
The study’s framing also contrasted the medicines’ roles in routine care. Pregnant women generally take Tylenol for pain or fever, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine has said untreated fevers in pregnancy—particularly in the first trimester—can increase the risk for miscarriages, preterm birth and other problems.
Tylenol’s autism question has produced conflicting evidence: some studies have raised a possible autism association, while many others have not found a connection. The paper also discussed leucovorin, a derivative of folic acid used for purposes including reducing toxic side effects from certain chemotherapy drugs and treating a rare blood disorder, and it has been studied for cerebral folate deficiency and for a subset of autistic children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend routine use of leucovorin for autistic children. The group said early, small-scale studies have explored the drug, “and some findings suggest potential benefit in carefully selected cases,” while emphasizing that evidence remains limited.
The analysis came as well after a reported setback: in late January, the European Journal of Pediatrics retracted a study evaluating leucovorin as an autism treatment. The Lancet researchers said the ordering and prescribing changes they observed occurred even as prominent medical groups criticized the underlying messaging and cautioned against broad use.
As clinicians, researchers and families weigh those risks against limited evidence, the study adds to concerns that political communication about health can quickly alter real-world medical decisions—even when experts say the science is not settled.