Saturday 11/October/2025 – 07:52 PM
US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attracted widespread controversy after statements linking circumcision to an increased risk of autism, which medical experts described as incoherent speculation that misunderstands science.
An attack on the US Secretary of Health because of his statements about the connection between circumcision and autism
According to what was published by the British newspaper Daily Mail, Kennedy explained during a government meeting that two studies indicated a high rate of autism among children who underwent circumcision at an early age, suggesting that the reason may be the use of Tylenol and acetaminophen to relieve pain after the procedure.
But he later returned to confirm on the X platform that he did not directly link circumcision to autism, but rather between the use of acetaminophen after circumcision and autism.
However, experts explained that this hypothesis lacks evidence, and Dr. Jeff Singer, a fellow at the Cato Institute, said that Kennedy does not have data to support his assumption that all circumcised children received Tylenol, noting that this medication is not usually given to newborns after circumcision.
Autism rates
Statistics show that autism rates are about 1 in 31 children in the United States, compared to 1 in 88 children in Israel, although circumcision is more common in the latter, which denies the existence of a causal relationship between circumcision and autism.
Kennedy had relied on a literature review published in 2025 that included 64 studies that addressed the relationship between acetaminophen and autism, which included Danish research in 2015 that indicated a link between circumcision and autism, but it did not prove a causal relationship, nor did it address whether the children received painkillers after the operation.
Dr. David Shusterman, a urologist in New York, said that circumcision itself does not lead to autism, adding that raising such hypotheses without sufficient evidence confuses public opinion more than it helps.
On the other hand, Dr. Justin Homan of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center noted that the use of acetaminophen after circumcision is sometimes practiced to relieve pain, but stressed that it requires large-scale studies to determine its association with any long-term side effects.
US President Donald Trump sparked a similar controversy last month when he urged pregnant women to avoid taking Tylenol, indicating a possible relationship between it and autism disorders, although most extensive scientific studies have not found any conclusive evidence of this link.
