A Harvard dean and preeminent epidemiologist whose work was cited by top health officials in the Trump administration as justification for severely curtailing Tylenol use by pregnant women due to a supposed link to autism provided expert testimony in a lawsuit against the drug’s maker that a federal judge called “unreliable.”

Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, submitted written testimony in 2023 that his review of the scientific literature led him to conclude that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, “can cause the offspring to develop” neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and ADHD. A Harvard spokesperson said that Baccarelli was paid roughly $150,000 for his work on the case.

The federal court judge excoria

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