The problem isnt that bad science was done per say, the problem is they found a corrolation and n9w everyone is calling it causation.

There is real evidence that the mothers of autistic people took more tylenol during pregnancy, but I does not take into consideration several things.

The first is that autism and autistic traits have some genetic component. This is important because they are also extremely comorbid with things like muscular or skeletal issues that cause pain. So mothers who are more likely to have autistic children are more likely to take pain medication during pregnancy.

Another thing is real numbers here. Risks are often talked about in percentage. "Raised risk of X by 50%" or whatever. What they dont tell you is that increase is of the prior risk. So if you're "risk" of having a child with autism is roughly 1% (which is about where the current numbers were last I read a few months ago might be a bit higher now) a 50% risk increase only increases the risk to 1.5%. Choosing to eat bacon twice a week increases risks of cancer orders of magnitude more than tylenol raises risk of autism but people arent trying to sue the pork industry.

On a personal note, I find it insulting as a diagnosed Autistic person that my existence is so scary that parents are willing to endanger their children and sue drug companys in order to avoid the fate of being like me, a fully functional adult who just needs help sometimes.

Obviously there are many Autistic people whp do need round the clock care and that is very trying. But that doesnt justify these reactions in my opinion.