View this email in your browser ([link removed])
An update from FactCheck.org
Photo by Andrey Popov / stock.adobe.com


** The Facts Behind Claims on Autism, Tylenol and Folate
------------------------------------------------------------

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised that the administration will make announcements in September about the causes of autism. "We’re finding interventions, certain interventions now, that are clearly, almost certainly causing autism,” he said at a late August Cabinet meeting.

On Sept. 5, the Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter," reported that Kennedy would suggest a connection between autism and use of Tylenol, or acetaminophen, during pregnancy. But as Staff Writer Kate Yandell writes, Tylenol hasn’t been shown to cause autism, and some experts told Kate that the best current evidence points away from this conclusion.

“As far as the evidence goes, it points towards no causal association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism,” Brian Lee, a professor of epidemiology at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health, told Kate.

Lee was a co-author of a study published last year of nearly 2.5 million Swedish children that found an association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and a slightly increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. But the researchers found that other factors, not acetaminophen, were likely responsible for that finding. When the researchers compared siblings to better control for various factors, the association with acetaminophen disappeared.

Kennedy's report also could suggest some role for low levels of the vitamin folate in autism, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some research has indicated that taking folic acid — another form of folate already recommended for women who could become pregnant — is associated with a lower likelihood of having a child with autism. However, as Kate explains, it remains unclear whether the vitamin is causing the reduced autism risk. Folate deficiency is also uncommon in the U.S.

There is evidence that changes in diagnostic criteria, screening, services and awareness of autism have affected how many cases of autism are diagnosed. There may have been some true increase in autism over several decades, but if so, it is far less dramatic than Kennedy has made it out to be. Genetics plays a major role in autism risk.

For more, see our full story: “The Facts Behind Claims on Autism, Tylenol and Folate ([link removed]) .”
HOW WE KNOW
In writing about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's impact on Medicaid spending in rural areas, we turned to independent health policy research organization KFF. The group conducts analyses of health care policies and legislation. KFF estimated that the OBBBA’s Medicaid provisions could lower federal Medicaid spending in rural areas by $137 billion over 10 years. Over half of that amount is estimated to occur in 12 states. Read more: "Rural Health Fund Falls Short of Estimated Medicaid Cuts ([link removed]) ."
FEATURED FACTS
Infected mothers can spread ([link removed]) the hepatitis B virus to babies during birth, and infants can pick up the virus from caregivers who may not even know they are infected. While pregnant mothers are usually tested for HBV, results can be delayed or incorrect. As a result, vaccinating all infants at birth “acts as a safety net,” an archived Centers for Disease Control and Prevention FAQ explains. The hepatitis B vaccine is being discussed at the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' Sept. 18-19 meeting.
REPLY ALL

Reader: Have many of the mass shooters been transgender?

FactCheck.org Director Lori Robertson responds: One of our undergraduate fellows, Ashley Wang, addressed this issue in an Ask FactCheck this week. As Ashley writes, the number of transgender mass shooters in the U.S. varies depending on how “mass shooting” is defined, but it's quite small. The Gun Violence Archive counts five mass shootings by transgender or nonbinary people since January 2013. That’s less than 0.1% of the total mass shootings on its list.

The independent Gun Violence Archive defines mass shootings as incidents in which there are “a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.”

Several readers asked us about this issue, which came up after an alleged shooter who identified as transgender killed two children and injured 21 others in Minneapolis on Aug. 27. Some Republican commentators then suggested that this was a pattern.

The Violence Prevention Project at Hamline University defines a mass shooting differently: “four or more people shot and killed, excluding the shooter, in a public location, with no connection to underlying criminal activity, such as gangs or drugs.” By that definition, the project has identified 201 mass shooters between 1966 and 2024, with only one being transgender.

Read the full story for more: "Few Mass Shooters Have Been Transgender ([link removed]) ."


** Wrapping Up
------------------------------------------------------------
Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* Viral Claims About Charlie Kirk’s Words ([link removed])
Since the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, social media users have shared posts showing, quoting or paraphrasing remarks the posts attribute to the conservative activist. Many readers have asked us to provide the facts on whether Kirk, the founder of the youth political group Turning Point USA, made several of these comments.

* Trump Again Overstates Number of Drug Overdose Deaths in U.S. ([link removed])
Reviving an unfounded claim he has made for several years, President Donald Trump on Sept. 5 overstated the number of Americans who died in 2024 of drug overdoses, saying that he believed 300,000 or “350,000 people died last year from drugs.” A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told us the provisional number of drug overdose deaths in 2024 was 79,383, and an expert in addiction medicine told us Trump’s number was “a gross exaggeration.”

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* Los hechos detrás de las afirmaciones sobre el autismo, el Tylenol y el folato ([link removed])
Según informes de prensa, el Secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., podría señalar al Tylenol y la deficiencia de folato en su prometido anuncio sobre las causas del autismo. Sin embargo, no se ha demostrado que ni el Tylenol ni la deficiencia de folato causen autismo. Algunos estudios han desestimado el Tylenol como factor de riesgo.

* RFK Jr. elige y hace mal uso de datos sobre vacunas que contienen aluminio ([link removed])
Un amplio estudio danés confirmó recientemente que las vacunas con aluminio no están asociadas con un aumento en las tasas de enfermedades crónicas infantiles, incluido el autismo. Sin embargo, el secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tergiversó las conclusiones del estudio, afirmando que los datos complementarios del artículo “muestran pruebas calamitosas de daños”.

Do you like FactCheck.Weekly? Share it with a friend! They can subscribe here ([link removed]) .
Donate to Support Our Work ([link removed])

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Threads ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** TikTok ([link removed])
** WhatsApp ( [link removed])
We'll show up in your inbox every Friday with this fact-focused rundown. But you can message us any day of the week with questions or comments: [email protected].
Copyright © 2025 FactCheck.org, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
FactCheck.org
Annenberg Public Policy Center
P.O. Box 58100
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed][UNIQID]&c=ff9a7620f9&utm_source=FactCheck.org&utm_campaign=108e5e27c2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_08_28_07_55_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-3e4ccdbe29-48392213)
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed][UNIQID]&c=ff9a7620f9&utm_source=FactCheck.org&utm_campaign=108e5e27c2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_08_28_07_55_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-3e4ccdbe29-48392213)
.

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
FactCheck.org: A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center . P.O. Box 58100 . Philadelphia, Pa 19102 . USA