US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy has made a startling assertion, connecting circumcision to autism, following his recent contentious and unverified claim that a common painkiller is responsible for the condition.

During a round-table discussion, Kennedy reiterated the unfounded link between the analgesic Tylenol and autism, suggesting that those who disagreed with his theory harbored animosity towards US President Donald Trump.

In a meeting with Trump and the Cabinet, the divisive Kennedy repeated the correlation, despite acknowledging the absence of medical evidence to confirm the claim. He also incorrectly explained a pregnant woman’s anatomy and made a connection between autism and circumcision.

“Anybody who takes the stuff during pregnancy unless they have to is, is irresponsible,” Kennedy told Trump and fellow Cabinet members.

“It is not proof. We’re doing the studies to make the proof.”

Kennedy has consistently advocated for unorthodox views on public health, causing concern among medical professionals that, in his role as health secretary, he might disrupt the nation’s evidence-based health policies.

Kennedy noted during the meeting that he had seen a TikTok video, which he said featured a pregnant woman “gobbling Tylenol” and cursing Trump.

“The level of Trump derangement syndrome has now transcended politics and entered the realm of pathology,” he stated. Kennedy also mentioned that the woman was taking Tylenol “with a baby in her placenta.”

A fetus develops in the uterus, not within the placenta. The placenta is a temporary organ that forms in the uterus during pregnancy and delivers oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to the developing fetus.

Kennedy’s statement came two weeks after he stood with Trump in the White House as the president used his office to promote unproven and, in some cases, discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism.

Tylenol contains paracetamol, a very common painkiller drug.

Kennedy also said today that infant boys who are circumcised have double the rate of autism because they are given Tylenol after the procedure.

This claim seems to refer to a study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2015, which looked at ritual circumcision and the risk of autism spectrum disorder in boys under the age of 10 in Denmark.

It found that those who had undergone the procedure, which involves the removal of the foreskin from the penis, were more likely to develop autism than other boys in the study.

Researchers suggested a potential link might be due to the pain of the procedure.

Researchers noted that they had no data on painkillers or anesthetics used, and thus couldn’t address whether Tylenol was linked to autism.

Other researchers pointed out that the Denmark study looked at correlation, not causation. They also point to other studies that found no evidence to support a link between circumcision and autism.

Reported with Associated Press.