Vice President Vance said Wednesday that pregnant women should lean on their doctor for advice on whether to take Tylenol after President Trump earlier this week said pregnant women should “fight like hell not to take it” because of potential links to autism.
Vance was asked during an exclusive interview with Reshad Hudson of Nexstar what pregnant women should take for pain given the president’s comments, which have drawn pushback from medical experts.
“What I took from the president’s announcement and also the CDC’s recommendations here is we just have to be careful. We know some of these medications have side effects. We know that even despite those side effects, sometimes they’re necessary,” Vance, a father of three young children, said during the interview in North Carolina.
“So, my guidance to pregnant women would be very simple, which is follow your doctor. Right? Talk to your doctor about these things,” Vance added.
The vice president highlighted instances where his own children were sick and they considered giving them Tylenol, but a doctor cautioned that the side effects may not be worth it in particular cases. But he acknowledged someone with a high fever is going to “have to take something to deal with that.”
“So, I really think it’s case by case,” Vance said. “But if you zoom out a little bit, the fundamental argument the CDC is making, that [Health and Human Services Secretary] Bobby Kennedy is making, is these drugs do have side effects. And we’ve got to follow the science wherever it leads.
“And in some cases, that means that we should probably be a little bit more careful with some of these medications. I think being a little more mindful of these side effects is a good thing for everybody,” he added. “But ultimately, whether you should take something is very context-specific, and that’s why I think you should lean on your doctor.”
Trump and top health officials held a press conference Monday where they said pregnant women should not take acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, for pain relief due to a potential risk of autism, despite no new evidence proving the drug directly causes the condition.
The president repeatedly said “don’t take Tylenol” and recommended that pregnant women limit use of acetaminophen except in case of an extremely high fever — “if you can’t tough it out.”
Tylenol has been one of the only over-the-counter pain medications considered safe for pregnant women; other options such as ibuprofen or aspirin can increase risks of birth defects.
Medical experts quickly pushed back on Trump’s comments, and some Republicans and members of Trump’s own administration have sought to clean up his remarks.
Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in an interview with TMZ on Wednesday that pregnant women should consult with a physician and use the medication if they have a high fever.
“The doctor’s almost certainly going to prescribe you something. Tylenol might be one of the things they give.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) also pushed back on Trump’s remarks, saying the “preponderance of evidence shows” there is no link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism.
“The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem,” Cassidy, a physician, posted on the social platform X.
Asked Wednesday by Nexstar, which owns The Hill, about Cassidy’s comments, Vance said he was supportive of continuing to study the issue.
“If the argument is, ‘Let’s come up with more evidence and let’s do more science,’ then I’m absolutely on board with that,” he said.
“If you look at the evidence we have right now, it’s pretty clear that Tylenol has some side effects. Some of those are not even controversial. Some of them are maybe a little bit more controversial,” Vance added. “But what we ought to be doing is doing the science, following the evidence, and being honest with people about the side effects that are out there.”
