Jake Tapper Confronts Trump Honcho Dr Oz Over Autism Claims
CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz Friday when the cardiologist and former T.V. doctor asserted that autism is a modern phenomenon.
Dr. Oz serves as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and was on-hand along with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week when Donald Trump admonished expectant mothers not to take Tylenol.
“It will take us at least five more years to figure out for sure if there’s a causal relationship between Tylenol and autism — we may never know it for sure,” Dr. Oz began, saying pregnant mothers with a headache or low-grade temperature “just popped a pill because they think it’s not a problem.” He continued:
DR. OZ: We have been understanding more and more about why children develop this problem, which is, I think, pretty clearly not genetic. A five-fold increase in the incidence of autism in a quarter century is not from your genes. They don’t change that fast.
TAPPER: Well, in the diagnosis of it. I mean, part of the reason — I’m not saying all of the reason — but part of the reason there has been increased diagnosis is because medical understanding of autism has increased. So there’s more understanding and so more diagnosis.
DR. OZ: Without question. But in addition, 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.
TAPPER: Well, we maybe don’t have as many people who were diagnosed on the autism —
DR. OZ: 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.
TAPPER: There just wasn’t the same understanding of it!
DR. OZ: I agree, but even so, if you look around, you see children who have autism in many different settings with families. So I do think there’s a real increase, not just a measured increase.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
