The US health secretary clarified that he was blaming painkillers, not the surgery itself, after his remarks sparked criticism<\/p>\n
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has defended remarks he made during a cabinet meeting on Friday after critics said he suggested a link between circumcision and autism. He later clarified that he meant the pain reliever Tylenol (acetaminophen) given to infants after the procedure, not circumcision itself. Earlier, President Donald Trump echoed parts of the theory, urging pregnant women not to use Tylenol and stressing the need to examine its safety. \u201cTwo studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,\u201d Kennedy told the meeting. \u201cIt is not proof. We\u2019re doing the studies to make the proof,\u201d he said on Friday. He called autism a national security issue and claimed that countries with higher acetaminophen use show higher autism rates. Kennedy also mocked a pregnant woman in a TikTok video who took Tylenol and cursed Trump, saying her behavior shows \u201cTrump derangement syndrome.\u201d He added that taking the drug during pregnancy without needing to is irresponsible. The remarks drew a swift backlash. Representative Jerrold Nadler wrote on X that Kennedy\u2019s \u201cobsession with conspiracy theories has once again crossed the line into dangerous and antisemitic territory.\u201d Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert, called the theory \u201cabsurd.\u201d Autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg said, \u201cNone of this makes sense.\u201d\u00a0In September, the World Health Organization said there is no conclusive scientific evidence linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism.<\/p>\n
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Afterward, Kennedy took to X, citing a 2015 Danish study showing higher autism rates in circumcised boys. He said it argues that acetaminophen is the likely factor and outlines how it may cause neurodevelopmental harm when combined with oxidative stress, calling the evidence \u201coverwhelming.\u201d\u00a0Kennedy accused media outlets of distortion. \u201cUSA Today partially reported what I said but used misleading framing. [The] New York Post distorted it completely with its headline, implying I said circumcision causes autism.\u201d\u00a0Kennedy founded Children\u2019s Health Defense, a group known for questioning vaccine safety and promoting theories linking vaccines to autism. He also criticized the WHO\u2019s Covid-19 response, including lockdowns and vaccines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US health secretary clarified that he was blaming painkillers, not the surgery itself, after his remarks sparked criticism US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has defended remarks he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t