Dr. Oz gets swift pushback from CNN's Jake Tapper over key autism claim
CNN's Jake Tapper delivered swift pushback on Dr. Mehmet Oz over key autism claims Friday after the Trump administration attempted to blame pregnant women's use of Tylenol for autism among children.
Oz, former TV host and current administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joined Tapper to follow up on the Monday press conference where President Donald Trump proclaimed that pregnant women should not take the pain reliever.
"In a letter to physicians, though, the Food and Drug Administration said that a causal relationship between taking Tylenol by pregnant mothers and autism has not been firmly established, the HHS says doctors should use their best judgment," Tapper clarified.
The president said "nearly a dozen times" that pregnant women should not take Tylenol, he added.
Oz tried to argue that autism is more prevalent now than when he was growing up — but Tapper corrected him, saying that doctors now have more information about it, so it makes sense that there are more cases because it's identified more often.
"...Look at someone my age, our age. Bobby — Secretary Kennedy's age. We don't have a lot of people in our lives, our age who are on the autism spectrum," Oz said.
But Tapper didn't sit back on that claim.
"Well, we maybe don't have as many people who were diagnosed on the autism," Tapper said, pushing back.
"But think about it right now, if you look around at your friend group or people you grew up with, just think back in time. How many people who are — I'm 65 this year — I don't remember ever meeting a child when I was a kid who was on the spectrum," Oz said.
Tapper corrected that there "just wasn't the same understanding of it."
"I agree, but even so, if you look around, you see children who have autism in many different settings with families," Oz said, trying to change the subject.