R.I. health leaders set the record straight on Tylenol, vaccines, and autism

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island public health experts are challenging Trump administration claimsabout a causal link between the active ingredient in Tylenol and autism.

Roger Williams University Professor of Public Health Jacquline Cottleand Amy Nunn, Chief Executive Officer of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute and Open Door Health, appeared on the Rhode Island Report podcast, addressing public health matters ranging from COVID-19 vaccines to measles outbreaks to food dyes.

On Monday, President Trump used the platform of the presidencyto promote unproven and in some cases discredited ties between acetaminophen, vaccines, and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder.

When asked about the connection between Tylenol and autism, Nunn said, "To my knowledge, there is no association. I think we have seen a near compulsion about linking autism to a variety of different things that have no scientific backing. I think this is one of the things in that category. So I would encourage people to digest that information with a lot of caution."

Cottle agreed that decisions on the use of Tylenol shouldn't be made "until there's a much stronger scientific basis for that kind of a linkage."

Rhode Island Department of Health Director Jerry Larkin issued a statement Monday, and said, "The assertion that autism is caused by the use of acetaminophen, or Tylenol, during pregnancy is not backed by the full body of scientific evidence. Autism is complex, and there has been no evidence of a single cause in the decades it has been researched."

On the podcast, Nunn spoke about the confusion caused by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisers, who have declined to recommend COVID-19 vaccinationsthis fall, leaving the choice up to those who want a shot.

Nunn said that confusion prompted her to join in writing a commentary piece for the Boston Globe, with the headline "Take the politics out of health and get your COVID vaccine this season."

"The bottom line is you should probably do what you did last year," Nunn said on the podcast. "And that's because the evidence hasn't changed. It's just that the public messaging around this has changed."

Nunn and Cottle also responded to the "Make Our Children Healthy Again" strategy released in early September, and its vow to publish a study on "the root causes of autism," which Kennedy. has suggested is linked to past vaccines.

"The science is unequivocal for the efficacy of vaccines and the fact that vaccines are not causing autism," Cottle said. "Unfortunately, for some people, until we can say what is causing it, there's still going to be a desire for something to be more definitive."

Nunn said the science on the health benefits of vaccination is "ironclad."

"If you take the long view and think about what are the things that have most extended life expectancy in the last century, there are three things: Potable water, eliminating respiratory ailments, and widespread vaccination," she said. "We shouldn't be coerced into thinking that we should be dialing back progress."

Cottle and Nunn addressed the outbreak of measlesthat began in Texas in January and spread to more than 700 people in three states. It began in a close-knit, low-vaccinated community, and the vast majority who got sick were unvaccinated.

"There's a good likelihood that you're going to see more outbreaks like that because much of our health status depends on both who's vaccinated and then who's not," Cottle said. "The more people that are not getting vaccinated, the lower that herd immunity is. It goes beyond making a choice for yourself."

Nunn and Cottle said they back Kennedy's plan to phase out some commonly used food dyes. "I think that it's long overdue that we take a look at what we are eating and what's available to our families and what's being fed to our children, being marketed to our children," Cottle said.

The Rhode Island Report podcast is produced by The Boston Globe Rhode Island in collaboration with Roger Williams University. To get the latest episode each week, follow the Rhode Island Report podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcasting platforms, or listen in the player above.