Faver Dias Addresses Tylenol Misinformation, Reckless Pseudoscience from HHS Secretary

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.— State Rep. Laura Faver Dias, D-Grayslake, is supporting a resolution condemning Trump administration Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and calling for his ouster; as well as pushing back against the reckless and irresponsible spreading of junk science around Tylenol and pregnancy he has recently pushed.

“I know the pain that many women endure during pregnancy, and for years, Tylenol has been the safest option for treating that pain,” Faver Dias said. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is spreading lies about the link between Tylenol and autism, which potentially endangers maternal and fetal health by increasing their risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, and complications from a fever that was left untreated.”

Recently, Kennedy sparked renewed outrage and derision by claiming, without facts or evidence, that acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol, causes autism when taken by mothers during pregnancy. Critics immediately pointed out that these claims are cruelly dehumanizing toward those living with autism—as well as promoting falsehoods about legitimate treatments in a way that endangers maternal and fetal health by increasing the risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, and complications due to untreated fever.

Kennedy has long been known as a prominent source of baseless and discredited health and medical disinformation—pushing such junk science conspiracy theories as “vaccines cause autism,” wireless tech causing cancer, raw milk, “chemtrails,” AIDS not being caused by HIV, and accusing the FDA of suppressing advancements in health. 

He rose to prominence by playing on disinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that Dr. Anthony Fauci was engaged in a conspiracy to promote “dangerous” vaccines, that COVID-19 “targets Caucasians and Black people”—a trope associated with baseless theories that Chinese people and ethnic Jews are immune, suggesting that they are in some way responsible.

Faver Dias joins many of her colleagues in saying that Kennedy’s documented history of promoting objective falsehoods and suppressing real medical science make him unqualified to influence a modern healthcare system. 

“One fact remains true – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration prioritize one thing, which is their own political agenda,” Faver Dias said. “They didn’t care in 2020 and they are still exhibiting that same disregard now because their comments that have no scientific basis might cost thousands of lives.  We must call for the immediate resignation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. so people can make informed decisions regarding their health.”

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