Trump administration set to tie Tylenol to autism risk, officials say | Hacker News Reader

Trump administration set to tie Tylenol to autism risk, officials say

washingtonpost.com

22 pointsalmog25 comments

I'm reminded of the ending of Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment, where a nation's god is revealed to have died, and 'his' recently announced additions to the list of banned things (rocks, ears and accordion players) was produced only by the collective anxiety of that god's remaining worshippers.

Johnson & Johnson is not a friendly medicine company. They have a long history of causing and suppressing information about harms in their products. It's quite likely that they were responsible for the Tylenol contamination scare decades ago.[0]

Aside from that, acetaminophen had always been a dangerous drug to hand out willy-nilly. It's a major cause of overdose poisoning and is known to damage the liver. How was it ever approved in the first place? I'd say the same way as J&J's other products. It made up half their profit for most of its product life.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/No-More-Tears-Secrets-Johnson/dp/0593...

I thought this would be Trumps bleach and cillit bang kind of stuff, but the following is some very convincing evidence (assuming its not fabricated).

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/...

Identified the cause and a drug product which can treat it? Surely nobody was front-running these announcements.

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folinic_acid

> used to decrease the toxic effects of methotrexate and pyrimethamine

> Pyrimethamine [...] is a medication used with leucovorin (leucovorin is used to decrease side effects of pyrimethamine; it does not have intrinsic anti-parasitic activity) to treat the parasitic diseases toxoplasmosis and cystoisosporiasis

OH ffs! Brain worms again?!

These people are very unserious people in serious positions of power.

I _still_ don't get the fixation on autism.

Is that even in a rational top 10 of any category of problems? Let alone "health"?

Moral panic among Boomer grandparents in reaction to escalating prevalence took root in conservative echo chambers.

The escalating prevalence is worthy of study, but yeah, there's a social/political fixation.

Why exactly does the president of the USA announce scientific stuff?

Scientific?

Is it one of his fever dreams? I don't know. The whole situation is weird in all angles

Government via tick tok viral health advice.

Doctors hate it!

(and they should...)

Macro-economics, military science, cryptocurrency, and now medical science! Is there nothing that Trump can't do, and do well? Think about the outcry that would have happened if Obama or Biden had made a medical announcement like this. The congressional hearings, editorials, and news analysis would have been deafening. Truth to tell, that would have happened even for G.W. Bush. But if Trump makes a decision, there's a little factual reporting, there's no wasteful court cases, no hearings, no media outcry. Relaxing and efficient!

Given Trump's horrid track record with Covid treatment advice, which has been linked to thousands of deaths, why would anyone listen to this man regarding any medical advice?

Are you asking why?

Because he is the president.

As we've learned, it matters less if you're correct than if you're first and loud.

How convenient, a drug the entire population has taken is the cause, and they are ready and waiting with a cure to sell.

I’m highly skeptical of all of this.

It's most likely based on the findings discussed here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-021-00553-7

J&J "sold" Tylenol, and its long tail of liability, to a spinoff entity that now does not have enough cash to buy Trump off. It will probably simply disappear; the doctors will not go to bat for it.

I eagerly await more AI slop that references studies that have never existed. Or, as this administration calls it, "science."

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