Dr. Mehmet Oz offered a mild walk-back of the Trump administration’s controversial Tylenol guidance Wednesday, telling TMZ that pregnant women with high temperatures might still be advised by their doctors to take the fever-reducing drug in certain cases.
Oz, a physician and administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), appeared on TMZ Live and said pregnant women should “take [Tylenol] when it’s appropriate.” He opened the interview by stressing that no one “should be making health care decisions based on their politics” and urged viewers to “keep an open mind.”
Oz said the administration’s warning was for excessive use of the drug when there are other options available. “If you have a high fever … the doctor’s almost certainly going to prescribe you something, Tylenol might be one of the things they give,” Oz told hosts Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere. Oz clarified that low-grade fevers or minor aches and pains are not a good reason for pregnant women to turn to Tylenol.
The White House released controversial guidance on Tuesday declaring a connection between the use of acetaminophen, Tylenol’s active ingredient, during pregnancy and autism. The administration cited studies including the Nurses’ Health Study II and the Boston Birth Cohort that detail an association between “in utero exposure and later diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”
Earlier on Wednesday, the White House referenced a 2017 Tylenol tweet that advised against use during pregnancy, along with a photo of President Donald Trump holding a hat reading, “Trump was right about everything.”
Later in the interview Oz acknowledged that it “might be true” that taking acetaminophen for these reasons during pregnancy is actually safe — but that the science is not conclusive. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is also a physician, disagreed with the White House’s position, saying that the evidence does not support their blanket assessment.
“We don’t know,” Oz added in reference to the multiple studies and again affirmed that it should not be taken haphazardly. “Acetaminophen’s probably your best option but take it when you really need it.”
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