Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) called on the Trump administration on Monday to release additional information on why it believes the active ingredient in Tylenol could lead to an increased autism risk in children if used during pregnancy. 

Cassidy, who leads the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, made the request in response to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s warning this week about the risks of acetaminophen. 

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“HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim,” Cassidy wrote in a post to X. 

“The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case,” he continued. “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 doctor, is a leading voice on health policy in Congress and was hesitant about Kennedy’s leadership of HHS throughout the confirmation process.

Kennedy and heads of federal health agencies under the jurisdiction of the HHS acknowledged Monday that there is “conflicting” medical literature about whether acetaminophen definitely poses an increased risk of autism for children carried by women who use Tylenol or similar medicine during pregnancy. 

In their announcement highlighting the “potential” connections between Tylenol and increased risks of autism, Kennedy and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary did not issue an advisory ban on the medicine but said they rather wanted to “encourage clinicians to exercise their best judgment in use of acetaminophen” for fevers and pain in pregnancy by prescribing the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration when treatment is required. A press release from the HHS said the FDA is “partnering with manufacturers” to drive “new research” about the matter. 

“We are … sharing new information about the potential risks of acetaminophen so patients can make a more informed decision with their health care provider,” Makary said. 

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Kennedy added he expects “this to be the first of many announcements over the coming years that deliver actual information to parents on underlying causes of autism” and the possible paths to prevention and reversal.

The FDA on Monday also recognized its first-ever therapeutic for children with autism by approving a possible treatment for speech-related deficits associated with the disorder. The agency approved a “label update” for leucovorin for cerebral folate deficiency, which has been associated with autism, establishing the first FDA-recognized therapeutic for children with cerebral folate deficiency and autistic symptoms.