It’s been 70 years since Philadelphia-based McNeil Laboratories introduced the first pure acetaminophen product to American consumers: Elixir Tylenol, a prescription painkiller and fever treatment for kids. Advertised as “for little hotheads,” the medicine came in a red paper carton shaped like a fire engine.

Since then, it’s become one of the world’s most ubiquitous drugs, but also one whose safety has periodically been challenged, as it was this week when President Trump forcefully and publicly urged pregnant women to abstain from taking Tylenol , asserting, without clear scientific evidence, a potential link to autism.

It’s perhaps surprising that a product so widely used would become a medicinal scapegoat. Trump’s statements at an extraordinary press conference Monday have drawn

See Full Page