Kennedy's Public Health Firestorm: Tylenol, Autism Claims Ignite Backlash

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been at the center of national controversy in the past few days, making headlines that dominated both traditional and social media, and causing reactions across the public health and political spectrum. On Monday, during a White House press conference, President Trump flanked by Kennedy—now serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services—announced that taking Tylenol during pregnancy is linked to a very increased risk of autism in children, a claim that leading medical experts immediately criticized as dangerous and unsupported by strong scientific evidence, and several health leaders warned about the potential public health consequences of such statements, according to BBC News and ABC News. This announcement caused the stock price of the Tylenol manufacturer Kenvue to drop sharply and reignited fierce debate over vaccine and medication safety, with scientists and health officials widely pushing back on the administration’s claims.

More fallout came from within the government as it emerged that Dr. Susan Monarez, the CDC director, had been dismissed after refusing Kennedy’s demands to preapprove all vaccine recommendations and fire career scientists, as detailed in her testimony before the Senate committee. Kennedy has maintained in public appearances and Senate hearings that he supports vaccines and the “gold standard of science,” but his actions—including firing seventeen members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory commission and replacing some with known vaccine skeptics, as well as making $500 million in cuts to mRNA vaccine research—have only intensified perceptions that he is spearheading an ideological rather than evidence-based approach to public health, say multiple outlets including the BBC and Nature.

Over a hundred protesters met Kennedy on Martha’s Vineyard during a visit for an annual meeting with tribal representatives. The local response was fiercely oppositional—protesters carried “Science not nonsense” signs and denounced his stance on vaccines and health department cuts. Tribes and local health clinic leaders made clear that Kennedy’s views do not reflect those of their communities, as reported by WBUR and The MV Times.

Meanwhile, Kennedy has launched a new review of abortion pills by the FDA following pressure from Republican states. Abortion rights advocates and leading telehealth providers have expressed alarm, warning that this move could significantly curtail access to medication abortion—the most common method in the United States—particularly as it may rely on a study criticized for lacking peer review and dramatically overstating medical risk, according to ABC News.

On social media, Kennedy’s name has been trending in relation to both his statements on Tylenol and autism and in connection with a rally outside CDC headquarters organized in his support by anti-vaccine activists, even as many in the medical community publically condemned his moves. In business news, Kennedy swore in Dr. Anthony Letai as Director of the National Cancer Institute, a relatively routine administrative action, as reported by the Department of Health and Human Services.

In sum, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent days have been defined by mounting public criticism, high-profile protest, and fierce debate over changes to public health leadership and policy—events likely to mark a lasting chapter in his controversial public career. Speculation that his position is now vulnerable grows louder, but as of now, no official moves to remove him from office have been verified.

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