SpankyMcFarland

Science is always uncertain. Every claim made is inherently falsifiable and vulnerable to correction. It wouldn’t be science otherwise. All that can be offered is the best knowledge at the moment and journals like JAMA do their damnedest to ensure they are getting the best research papers possible. In fairness, people began to see problem there once the kids were born. It wasn’t a subtle matter like this is. There is a small positive correlation that still lacks the tell-tale signs of causality, as illustrated in the Swedish study. ‘Erring on the side of caution’ would bring its own risks here. Why do you think most doctors agree with me on this subject? Are they reckless psychopaths who don’t care about the welfare of their patients?

An utterly ridiculous comparison. If Tylenol helps cause autism it is just one factor in a complex disease. A majority of doctors believe that this is not the case. One clear factor in the rise of autism is far greater awareness of the condition among families and health care workers. It just wasn’t diagnosed that much in obviously autistic people way back when.

They’re not unproven articles for crying out loud. They are the best articles on the subject from brilliant medical researchers in top medical journals. Why does Senator Bill Cassidy (R) agree with me? Again, this is the Swedish article we are talking about. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2817406 That’s the Journal of the American Medical Association. This matter is not, and should not be, a political football. Fair play to Cassidy for weighing in with his expert opinion as a physician and risking his career as a senator.

Senator and doctor Bill Cassidy is up for re-election next year, very much wants to avoid any dispute with Trump and yet has come out against the Tylenol claims: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-cassidy-trump-tylenol-autism_n_68d2d9f7e4b06a8b846e6a6c

Why, thank you. I aim to please.

Of course, that type of gold standard study would be morally, ethically and legally impossible in this case.

How do you address the obvious problem in any retrospective study that the two groups of women - the women who take Tylenol and the women who don’t - may not be the same in their likelihood of having autistic children even before they take the drug? Sibling studies are one way of reducing this bias. And when these groups are examined in one of the biggest and best studies ever conducted, the Tylenol effect disappears. There is also no dose-response relationship. Do you have any other suggestions for managing this potential bias?

Unfortunately, this is how some Americans express their dissatisfaction with the incumbent government. Given that the current administration is right-wing it’s hardly a surprise that the mayhem is from political opponents. Let’s hope they avoid something more substantial along Oklahoma lines.

The UN suggest Trump’s team may have triggered the escalator malfunction: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-stopped-un-escalator-likely-trumps-videographer-says-un-2025-09-24/ And Trump brought his own teleprompter to the UN. The one that was there had no problem.

Since no later than 1977, four years after its founding, Netanyahu’s Likud party has been crystal clear on the matter of a Palestinian state: ‘between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty’. Netanyahu has also been clear. He is carrying on that prohibition. Talking to him about a Palestinian state is a waste of time.

Israel attacking Qatar was state terrorism pure and simple. Imagine trying to kill the team you are negotiating with to get your hostages released! It’s unbelievable. The Arab states cannot depend on America to protect them from such aggression any more. When it comes to Israel the Americans are worse than useless. I suspect that, increasingly, the Arabs will have to turn to China. India may also start playing a larger role in the region. It’s in their back yard.

Exactly. Which is why I am not advocating it. Other methods have to be used.

No, I don’t. That is the point I am making there. For obvious ethical and legal reasons, clinical trials of that sort would be all but impossible with pregnant women which means we have to look at less satisfactory, indirect evidence to find groups with and without the drug that resemble each other. Sibling studies are one way to do that. They naturally reduce the variation between patients. In the big Swedish study, siblings potentially exposed to acetaminophen showed no difference in autism rates compared to those who did not.

I will read it. One of the best types of study for any drug is the double blind controlled trial where patients are assigned randomly and unknowingly (to both patients and researchers) to drug and placebo groups. By this means the groups are hopefully the same and any difference in effect has a higher chance of being due to the drug itself. Obviously, any doctor carrying through such a study on pregnant women would be facing the possibility of a criminal trial so less satisfactory means have to be used. The problem is how to isolate the effect of the drug from other factors given that the two groups may be significantly different. So far most of the people I respect in the field are not convinced by the evidence here.

Ironically, that’s a rather woke way to approach things. My intent apparently matters more than the facts I present.

I think about that man as little as possible. If large, well run studies show an increased risk of autism after acetaminophen use within families. I may change my opinion.

Any older person should suspect part of the answer. How often did one hear about autism in the Seventies? It just wasn’t talked about as much and many people with the disorder were lumped into other categories. Paediatricians are looking for autism now far more aggressively than they used to because early intervention can be so helpful.

Sure but there are risks to no treatment of fever as well.

Here are some expert opinions, many of which refer to that Swedish study.

An opinion like this from a member of the public or even an academic in the field would carry little weight but we have to pay attention when senior political figures in the US give this claim such credence.

Why does everything here have to be discussed in a hysterically partisan way? This is public health for crying out loud.

This matter is too serious for trolling. I would have said the same if anybody had made this claim. My statements mirror the current medical consensus. If strong evidence of a causal link emerges I will be happy to change my opinion. Everything in life is risky. Alleging a causal link is a big step. Did you read the link I posted? That was serious research with a huge number of people.

Meta reviews are tricky to interpret. They combine a jumble of studies with markedly different criteria and put them, the good with the not so good, through a sausage machine of statistical analysis.

The link between acetaminophen and autism isn’t strong enough to justify a definite positive statement on causality. When it comes to public health the Swedes have done some excellent studies. A large Swedish study involving 2.5 million children found a small increase in autism among users of Tylenol but none within the families where Tylenol was used in one pregnancy and not in another. Sibling studies give researchers a chance to compare pregnancies with similar genetic and environmental conditions. This is important because women who use acetominophen may be slightly different from women who don’t for reasons not connected to the drug itself, eg, may have a higher risk of infection or autoimmune disease. Thus use of the drug may be a result of factors predisposing to autism rather than a cause. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2817406 BTW untreated fever is also a hazard for fetuses.

Basically the whole world has recognized Palestine already so I don’t know what the big deal is. Israel may use this as an excuse to take yet more land but it’s going to do that anyway. It’s funny how upset the Israelis and Yanks get over what they claim is a meaningless exercise. Make your minds up, guys.