Lancet

Rx orders shift: Tylenol down, leucovorin up after unsupported White House claims

March 11, 2026

A Lancet correspondence reports notable national shifts in prescribing after a September 22, 2025 White House briefing discouraged acetaminophen (Tylenol) use in pregnancy and promoted leucovorin as a potential autism therapy, despite limited supporting data. Cosmos data (a dataset created from Epic’s electronic health record system) was used to assess changes in US prescribing after the briefing. Emergency department acetaminophen orders for pregnant patients fell by about 10%, reaching a 20% decline by the third week, while outpatient leucovorin prescriptions for children rose roughly 71%, with early spikes exceeding 90%. These changes occurred without new clinical evidence or updated guidelines, suggesting the briefing’s claims alone influenced both patient behavior and clinician decision‑making.

Clinical takeaway: Clinicians should reinforce evidence‑based practice by counseling patients that acetaminophen remains the safest recommended analgesic/antipyretic in pregnancy and that leucovorin is not an established autism treatment, despite heightened public attention.

Source:

Faust, JS and Barnett, ML. (2026, March 6). Lancet. Changes in paracetamol and leucovorin use after a White House briefing. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00243-6/fulltext