The Tylenol-autism controversy is not only a case study in false information. It is also a mirror showing how fragile public trust is science and medicine can be when communication falters. Across this batch of articles, we have traced the contours of the knowledge gap: how institutions too often choose jargon over clarity, hedging over empathy and process over narrative. These choices leave the gap open. Populist figures, with their drama, fear and certainty, rush to close it: falsely but persuasively.

The lesson is clear. The knowledge gap is not inevitable. It is created and sustained by choices: the choice to write in the medical register instead of plain language; the choice to prioritise risk avoidance over resonance; the choice to normalise women’s suffering while urgently medicalising men’s conditions. Each of these decisions widens the distance between expert and layperson, between science and public.

Closing the gap requires new choices. Institutions must:

·       Lead with clarity and empathy, not hedging and delay.

·       Pair facts with narratives that resonate emotionally.

·       Recognise gendered double standards and validate women’s experiences of pain.

·       Empower patients by strengthening health literacy rather than assuming it.

If institutions fail to act, they will continue to lose the battle for public trust. False information will keep travelling faster than truth and dismissive phrases like “tough it out” will keep finding fertile ground. But if institutions choose differently, if they close the gap with empathy as well as accuracy, they can reclaim trust, strengthen patient well-being and ensure that truth not only survives but prevails.

Thank you for reading,

Mark Gibson, Leeds, United Kingdom

Nur Ferrante Morales, Bonilla de la Sierra, Spain

September 2025

Sources:

Primary references: Knowledge Gap commentaries by Mark Gibson

• Gibson, M. The Impact of the Knowledge Gap on Patient Well-being. Leeds, February 2025 .

• Gibson, M. Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Patient Communication in the Provider-Patient Relationship. Leeds, February 202

• Gibson, M. Narrowing the Knowledge Gap in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Leeds, February 2025

• Gibson, M. The Consequences of the Knowledge Gap. Leeds, February 2025

• Gibson, M. The Knowledge Gap Is Still a Choice. Leeds, December 2024

News and institutional coverage of the Tylenol–autism claim

• BBC. Trump makes unproven link between autism and Tylenol. Sep 22, 2025.

• ABC News. Major medical groups react to Trump’s claim that Tylenol is unsafe in pregnancy. Sep 23, 2025.

• Nature. Trump links autism and Tylenol: is there any truth to it? Sep 23, 2025.

• The Guardian. Is paracetamol safe during pregnancy and does it have links to autism? Sep 23, 2025.

• PBS/PolitiFact. Research doesn’t show using Tylenol during pregnancy causes autism. Sep 17, 2025.

• GOV.UK / MHRA. Reminder that taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe. Sep 23, 2025.

• The Independent. Even author of study used by Trump to warn about Tylenol disputes claim. Sep 23, 2025.

• Washington Post. Trump’s Tylenol and vaccine warnings leave some pregnant women confused. Sep 24, 2025.

• The Atlantic. Trump Tells Pregnant Women to ‘Fight Like Hell’ Not to Take Tylenol. Sep 23, 2025.

• NPR. When it comes to Tylenol, what are parents to do? Sep 23, 2025.

Broader contextual sources on gender and pain

• Medical News Today. Female hysteria: The history of a controversial condition. Oct 2020.

• Harvard Health. Women and pain: Disparities in experience and treatment. Oct 2017.

• Versus Arthritis. Seen but not heard: how the Gender Pain Gap affects women. Mar 2025.

• UCL. Women’s pain is routinely underestimated. Apr 2021.

• UK Parliament. Medical misogyny is leaving women in unnecessary pain and undiagnosed for years. Dec 2024.

• Wellcome Collection. Thousands of years of women’s pain. Aug 2019.

• Lancet. Gendered pain: a call for recognition and health equity. Mar 2024.

• NIH/PMC. Women and Hysteria in the History of Mental Health.

• Women’s Health. Over 80% of women have had their pain dismissed by a healthcare professional. Oct 2024.

• Wellbeing of Women. Over half of UK women feel their pain is ignored or dismissed. Nov 2022.

Broader health communication and misinformation context

• PolitiFact/PBS. Fact-checking Tylenol and autism claims. Sep 2025.

• Pharmaphorum. Alarm as Trump peddles unproven causes of autism. Sep 23, 2025.

• Euronews. Scientists push back on Trump’s claim linking Tylenol to autism. Sep 22, 2025.

• Al Jazeera. Fact check: Can taking Tylenol during pregnancy cause autism in children? Sep 16, 2025.

• Guardian. What we know about rising autism rates and Trump's unproven Tylenol link. Sep 23, 2025.

• Guardian. Wes Streeting rejects Trump claim linking paracetamol and autism. Sep 23, 2025.

• Independent. Trump and RFK Jr claim Tylenol is linked to autism. Sep 22, 2025.

• Independent. Even author of study used by Trump to warn about Tylenol disputes claim. Sep 23, 2025.

• BBC. Trust doctors over Trump on paracetamol, Streeting says. Sep 23, 2025.

• BBC. Fact-checking claims Trump made about autism. Sep 23, 2025.