Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drew criticism Thursday after suggesting his department is working to “make the proof” linking Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism.During a meeting of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Kennedy acknowledged that, at the moment, there is no such proof to support the claim made by the president last month that acetaminophen (an active ingredient in Tylenol) poses a risk to pregnant women.Medical experts and others slammed the comment on X, formerly Twitter, and noted how that’s not how scientific experiments work. Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served in Trump’s first administration, shared a thinking face emoji on social media in response. Other critics mocked Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, for saying the quiet part out loud.Very normal to announce to the world that a medicine is dangerous and then spend the next few months asking your team to find literally any proof that it’s true https://t.co/LmimLVXETz— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) October 9, 2025MAHA order of events: First - form strong beliefSecond - hold press conference telling millions of people the belief is true Later - run studies to "make proof" for it https://t.co/Zqh1ORRKn0— Gil Carvalho MD PhD🌈🇵🇸 (@NutritionMadeS3) October 10, 2025— commissioner shayla, twins fan but #tridentsup (@shaylarz) October 9, 2025This unfortunately is not how science works. You do not do a study with the intention of making it conform to your theories. You carry out a study to prove or disprove a theory with an open mind. This allows one to be open to the possibility of thinking differently https://t.co/Cw5XWDsnNj— Omer Awan MD MPH (@AwanRad) October 9, 2025The Trump administration's scientific method is to "make the proof."To be clear, that is not at all how science works. https://t.co/suXxpihYWA— Science Committee Democrats (@sciencedems) October 9, 2025Hmmm 'make the proof' as in a pre-determined outcome of a prospective study? Yeah that's not science that's brain worm buffoonery— Lib Dunk (@libdunkmedia) October 9, 2025We found the culprit and now we will torture the data until it confesses to our explanation!That’s not how research works lol— 🐢🐢🐢 HarlemJ11@bsky.social (@HarlemJ11) October 9, 2025Code for, we're not done making shit up yet, we'll get back to you on this...— Bravo6 (@53LunaticFringe) October 9, 2025In other words, RFK Jr., MAHA and Trump are putting the cart before the horse as it pertains to Tylenol and autism... a dumb approach and their previous press conference about this matter was definitely premature... -DW— DeSota Wilson (@desota) October 9, 2025Close