The AP (9/22, Swenson, Seitz) reports that on Monday, the President promoted “unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder.” In a news conference at the White House, the President urged pregnant women not to take acetaminophen. He urged “mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen.” Trump “also fueled long-debunked claims that ingredients in vaccines or timing shots close together could contribute to rising rates of autism in the U.S., without providing any medical evidence.”
        
Reuters (9/22, Erman, Aboulenein, Steenhuysen) reports the President, who was accompanied by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “called for a reexamination of a link between vaccines and autism, a theory that has been repeatedly debunked, and a series of changes not grounded in science.” According to Reuters, the Administration’s advice “goes against that of medical societies, which cite data from numerous studies showing acetaminophen plays a safe role in the well-being of pregnant women.” The Administration “also suggested leucovorin, a form of folic acid, as a treatment for autism symptoms.”
        
NBC News (9/22, Lovelace Jr., Bendix, Edwards) reports the President “spoke alongside Kennedy, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.” Kennedy “said the FDA will issue a letter advising health care [professionals] that acetaminophen should be used during pregnancy only in cases of high fever, when the fever itself may pose a health risk to the fetus.” Bhattacharya also “said at Monday’s briefing that the NIH will dedicate $50 million to 13 research projects focused on identifying root causes and treatments for autism,” an effort known as the “autism data science initiative.”
        
Chief Healthcare Executive (9/23, Southwick) reports that the American Psychiatric Association “issued a statement Monday criticizing the federal government for its statements on acetaminophen.” In its statement, the APA said, “Autism is a complex disorder, and it is incorrect to imply that a handful of studies have established causation. A strong base of evidence shows that acetaminophen, when taken as directed, is safe for use during pregnancy. Any decisions around a course of treatment should be determined by a patient and their doctor.”

Related Links:

— “Trump makes unfounded claims about Tylenol and repeats discredited link between vaccines and autism,”Ali Swenson and Lauran Neergaard, AP, September 22, 2025

MedPage Today (9/19, George) reports, “A cascade of brain injuries was evident in contact sport athletes long before they had signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), autopsy data showed.” These “injuries led to neuron loss, inflammation, and vascular damage in the former athletes, most of whom played American football and all of whom died before age 51, according to” researchers. The findings were published in Nature.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

PBS NewsHour (9/19, Brown) reported, “The music industry, full of glamorous stars and thrilling performances, can also be grueling for the musicians themselves, sometimes even with tragic consequences.” A MusiCares survey from 2024 “revealed that over 8 percent of respondents within that industry had…serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. That is notably higher than the 5 percent rate among the general population.” Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown discussed the Park City Song Summit in Utah that featured an emphasis on mental health and wellness.

Related Links:

— “Music festival helps artists confront and manage the industry’s mental health impact,”William Brangham, PBS NewsHour , September 19, 2025

Infectious Disease Advisor (9/19, Kuhns) reported a study found that “pre-COVID-19 mental and physical health is significantly worse in patients who later develop long COVID.” For the study, researchers “aimed to determine whether health-related quality of life (HRQOL) prior to COVID-19 infection predicts development of long COVID symptoms. They also compared pre-COVID-19 HRQOL between patients who developed long COVID and matched control patients, as well as HRQOL trajectories from initial infection through 1 year.” Researchers observed that “lower pre-COVID-19 HRQOL scores were significantly associated with a higher risk for multiple long COVID symptoms, including after adjustments for age, sex, and initial COVID-19 hospitalization.” Furthermore, “after 1 year of follow-up, the researchers noted both mental and physical health scores remained significantly lower in patients with long COVID compared with matched control patients. Although patients with long COVID experienced a greater decline in HRQOL 1 year after initial infection, the decline was not clinically significant.” The study was published in Frontiers in Public Health.

Related Links:

— “Pre-COVID-19 HRQOL Predicts Severity of Long COVID Symptoms,”Lisa Kuhns, Infectious Disease Advisor , September 19, 2025

Healio (9/18, Gawel) reports a study found that “soccer players with more frequent repetitive head injuries from heading the ball had significantly greater microstructural disruption in their juxtacortical white matter at sulci depths.” Subsequently, “these injuries also were associated with poorer performance on verbal learning and memory performance testing.” Study lead Michael L. Lipton, MD, PhD, professor of radiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told Healio, “The study builds on our prior work showing that heading is associated with changes in brain microstructure and cognitive performance.” He added, “However, the peripheral white matter has never been examined, although it is known to be a site of injury in TBI and a focus of pathology in CTE.” The study was published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Soccer heading linked to microstructural injury, lower cognitive performance,”Richard Gawel, Healio , September 18, 2025