Bonus Episode: Tylenol & Autism Link (Dr. Zorba's Rapid Response)

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Dr. Zorba Paster responds to The White House press release with links to scientific studies claiming that the use of acetaminophen (Tylenol), during pregnancy causes autism.

(Recorded October 2, 2025)

Dr. Paster on CNN Newsroom with Paula Newton talking about doctors navigating partisan divides, and the politicization of healthcare. 

Watch interview: https://youtu.be/8OxtG5X9UJs

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Production, edit, and music by Karl Christenson

Send your question to Dr. Zorba (he loves to help!):

• Phone: [phone] (call anytime)
• Email: [e-mail]
• Web: www.doctorzorba.org

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Episode Transcript

Karl (00:03):
Hey folks, thanks for listening to our podcast.
Thank you.
Thanks a lot.
Uh, we just want to trysomething new here, and we're
gonna do this periodically.
This is a rapid responseepisode, a little bonus episode
from Dr.
Zorba.

Zorba (00:15):
Right.
Things come up suddenly.
You hear about it in the news.
Breaking news.
And our goal is breaking news,a response based on science.
I am scientifically based, andit doesn't matter if you're left
or right, red or blue or greenor yellow, it doesn't make a
difference.
Science is science.

Karl (00:32):
There you go.
All right, I'll just set thisup real quick and let you go,
Zorba.
So recently the White Houseissued a press release with
links to scientific studiesclaiming that the use of
acetaminophen, Tylenol, duringpregnancy causes autism.
What are your thoughts on this,Zorba?

Zorba (00:46):
It does not cause autism.
So let me give you let me giveyou some background on why
Tylenol, acetaminophen isimportant.
First of all, it is a safe drugto use during pregnancy.
Period.
If you decide to use aspirin,you may bleed and lose the baby.
If you decide to use ibuprofen,you may bleed and lose the
baby.
In other words, those drugs arenot safe.
What's a woman to do if she hasa headache?

(01:08):
Right?
Right.
What's a woman to do if she hasbody aches, if she has
discomfort?
What is she supposed to do?
The reality is that's reallyimportant.
It is a very important drug.
So let's talk about thissupposed studies about autism.
They are not good science.
There's good signs and badsigns.
But believe it or not, there'sa lot of good science that's
looking at this.

(01:28):
Here's what's going on withautism.
Autism, from a definition, hasbecome broader and broader and
broader over the last twodecades.
So what we used to say is achild has some learning
problems, they are now labeledas autistic.
And there are, and now we labelchildren who are really
autistic as really autistic.

(01:49):
There's a whole spread here.
So part of the increase inautism, probably the major part,
is the fact that doctors,teachers, and everyone is
looking for it, and thedefinition has changed.
And lo and behold, there's somepeople who are out there, movie
stars, and they say, no, weread the studies, we looked at
that.
There is no good scientificstudy.
So even though the politicianshave said that, who do you want

(02:12):
to get your health care for?
A doctor, a nurse practitioner,a PA, or a politician?
Let me ask you, when was thelast time you called up your
representative, your senator,and you said, treat my problems?
The answer is you don't.
So if you have a question aboutthis, you should go to your
health care provider.
That's it.

(02:33):
And who do you trust?
Well, you better go to ahealthcare provider that you
trust and ask about it.
And I can promise you that 95%of the doctors, the nurses, and
the PAs in this country whotreat pregnant women, if not
more, are going to say there isno scientifically based evidence
that uh that acetaminophenunder the name Tylenol is

(02:54):
actually connected to autism.
This is noise in the system,and it's very important for you
to be able to read things andunderstand and take action.

Karl (03:03):
It seems like there's a lot more noise in the system.
Well, there's a lot more noisein this system than ever before.

Zorba (03:07):
And there's a lot more noise in the system.
And part of this has to affectup social media.
Why?
Because people like to have thesocial media.
They like to do social mediaand say, hey, I got 100,000
people following me, I got amillion people following me,
I've got a hundred millionpeople following me, and people
like that.
Why?
Hey, it's human nature.
It's like the fact that morepeople are looking at you.
And the thing about autism andacetaminophen is it's not true.

(03:30):
And we have to look at thingsthat are true when it comes to
pregnancy.
And women have to be able totreat their pain and their
discomfort during pregnancy withthe right and the safest drug.
Now, are there side effects?
Every time you take a drug, ithas side effects.
And if you want to know whatthe side effects are, you can
look it up.
You can look it up online froma reputable site like Mayo

(03:52):
Clinic, Johns Hopkins, ClevelandClinic, University of
Wisconsin.
Look it up and do that.
It's important to do yourresearch, but you've got to do
your research withscientifically based things
because, frankly, folks, sciencewins over politics.

Karl (04:08):
Important stuff.
And it's great to be able to dothese quick, rapid response
episodes now and then when wehave, you know, very timely
health topics.

Zorba (04:15):
Absolutely, absolutely.
I hope that people will come tome because look, first of all,
I've been a doctor for 45 years.
I've seen things come and go.
Science changes.
We explain things and then wemake decisions.
We decide things are not goodbecause that's what science is
it's observation and changing.
Number two, I've been doing,you know, I've been on public
radio for about 35 years,answering questions and stuff.

(04:36):
So I've got I've got my doctorpractice, I've got my science
practice.
I also happen to cure, I happento mentor medical students,
University of Wisconsin.
I'm an adjunct professor.
I know the alternative side.
I happen to be one of the mainphysicians for His Holiness, the
Dalai Lama.
So I'm very, very familiar withwhat we call complementary
medicine.
And even a I read a lot aboutneuropathic medicine.

(04:59):
So I I know I can separate outthe chafe.
Uh essentially, I can sift andwent out and chefed out, sift
out the chaff from the weeds.

Karl (05:08):
I can s I couldn't say it either.
It's hard to say.

Zorba (05:11):
I can separate out the chaff from the weeds because
I've been doing that for solong, because I am old and I've
seen things come and go.
And let me tell you, any womanwho is pregnant can safely take
Tylenol.
Period.
Good luck.

Karl (05:27):
And if you want to hear more from Zorba, Zorba, you were
just actually last night on CNNtalking about health literacy
and the politicization of thehealthcare system.

Zorba (05:37):
And the stuff that's going on.
It's a great interview.
Very interesting.
We'll put a link up on ourwebsite.

Karl (05:43):
Exactly.
Drzorba.org.

Zorba (05:45):
That was on CNN, and I hope to do more of them in the
near future.

Karl (05:48):
Thanks a lot for listening and stay well.