10/10/2025
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a cabinet meeting on Thursday that early childhood circumcision could be linked to higher rates of autism, possibly due to the use of Tylenol after the procedure.
“There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they were given Tylenol,” Kennedy told President Donald Trump, according to reports from the New York Post and Gray News.
Kennedy did not name the studies, but one appears to be a 2015 analysis published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, which examined nearly 343,000 boys in Denmark. That study reported a statistical association suggesting circumcised boys were more likely to be diagnosed with autism before age 10 compared to their uncircumcised peers. Researchers speculated that early-life pain or stress could affect neurodevelopment, though the study did not prove causation.
Critics of that research have argued the findings were inconclusive and may have overlooked other explanations, such as increased medical monitoring among circumcised children, which could lead to higher rates of autism detection.
A second, smaller study from Ireland in 2024 found that circumcised boys with autism showed improvements in irritability and sensory symptoms, though it did not explore Tylenol’s role.
Medical professionals have also pushed back against the idea that circumcision routinely involves Tylenol. Rabbi Nechemia Markovits, a certified mohel based in Brooklyn who has performed circumcisions for nearly four decades, told The New York Post that he has “never needed to recommend Tylenol” for newborns, describing the procedure as “quick and well-tolerated.”
The claim comes two weeks after President Trump warned that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, “is not good” for pregnant women unless taken for a high fever, suggesting it could raise autism risks in babies. The FDA announced on September 22 that it is initiating a label update regarding a possible association, an action that the White House publicly promoted the same day.
“As of October 9, 2025, no causal link between acetaminophen use or circumcision and autism has been established. On September 22, the FDA initiated a process to update acetaminophen labeling to reflect a possible association seen in observational studies, while noting that causation has not been proven. Professional groups continue to advise that acetaminophen can be appropriate in pregnancy when clinically indicated and used as directed.
Sources:
New York Post, 19 News (Gray News), and Associated Press
Image Credit: Wikipedia (Creative Commons)
