FDA Policy/General

TikTok Misinformation on Acetaminophen, Autism Surged After FDA Notice

Misinformation on TikTok linking acetaminophen use during pregnancy with autism surged following a 9/2025 FDA announcement (see story) on the issue, with misleading videos attracting disproportionate attention, according to research presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics' 2026 National Conference & Exhibition.

Researchers analyzed 53 TikTok videos posted between September and November 2025 following FDA's announcement regarding a labeling change for acetaminophen products such as Tylenol. About 53% of the videos contained information consistent with available evidence, while 28% contained outright misinformation, the research found.

Despite representing a minority of the videos, misinformation accounted for more than half of total views, researchers reported. One misleading video received 10.3 million views, representing 36.6% of all exposure among the videos analyzed.

Nearly three-quarters of the videos containing misinformation were produced by influencers rather than medical professionals.

“Our results indicate that TikTok’s algorithm amplified low-quality, conspiracy-framed videos containing misinformation on a very sensitive health topic,” said Shivani Srivastava, a medical student at Rutgers School of Medicine.

Srivastava said evidence-based videos explained the lack of causal evidence linking prenatal acetaminophen exposure with autism but received substantially less exposure than the misinformation.

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Sharfstein et al. Urge Stronger FDA Oversight of Accelerated Approvals

FDA Actions Signal Scrutiny of Telehealth Prescribing Models: Attorneys

AI Model Detects Pancreatic Cancer Before Visible on CT Scans

Sen. Scott Security Concerns Over Chinese Medical Devices