https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-sci...in-soar-after-white-house-announcement-autism
Prescriptions for leucovorin soar after White House announcement on autism
Meghan Holohan
Today at 4:26 p.m.
Anti-science
“Our findings suggest the press conference may have increased off-label prescribing of leucovorin to children with autism,” lead author Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said in a press release. “This increase is concerning because the effectiveness and long-term safety of leucovorin for children with autism is uncertain.”
700% increase in 2025
Leucovorin is a folic acid analog that doctors use to help patients who have side effects from methotrexate, a drug that treats some cancers and autoimmune conditions. Leucovorin isn’t approved to treat autism, but the US Food and Drug Administration has said it can be used for children with cerebral folate deficiency.
Cerebral folate deficiency is “a rare disorder that can mimic symptoms of autism,” Michael Barnett, MD, of Brown University, and Jeremy Faust, MD, of Mass General Brigham, said in a commentary on a previous study in JAMA Network Open in June.
To understand prescribing trends of leucovorin, in the NEJM study, researchers examined data from the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, which tracks 93% of prescriptions from retail pharmacies, from December 29, 2024, to December 14, 2025.
Prior to the press conference, leucovorin prescriptions increased from 1.0 per 100,000 children to 4.6 per 100,000. Following the press conference, the number of prescriptions increased 46%, from 4.6 per 100,000 children to 6.7 per 100,000. By the end of the study, prescriptions had risen to 8.0 per 100,00 children
It’s concerning for parents of autistic kids who are now essentially being blamed for their kids’ autism and pointed in the direction of fake treatments.
Zoe Gross
In 2025, 47,394 children received 150,026 leucovorin prescriptions. This represents a weekly spike of children with leucovorin prescriptions, from 734 to 5,858, a 700% increase. More prescriptions were given to children ages 6 to 11 living in the southern United States than in other regions. At the same time, the researchers didn’t observe changes in leucovorin prescriptions for adults.
"Our findings demonstrate the power of the federal government to influence medical practice," Chua said. "Given this power, it is important that the government’s messaging about medications is based on rigorous evidence.” ‘
Distracting and confusing’
Some people in the autism community worried that suggesting that leucovorin could treat autism could be harmful.
“It’s very concerning for several reasons. The largest one being that we need our government to be a reassuring voice connecting families to the scientific evidence and pointing people in the right direction of what’s best for children,” Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told CIDRAP News.
“This is not that,” she added. This is telling people to go all in on a random thing that probably doesn’t work.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that more research is needed to examine who might benefit from leucovorin and whether it’s safe and effective.
“When the administration made that recommendation, the evidence wasn’t strong enough,” Gross said. In February 2026, the largest study on leucovorin and autism was retracted. “The evidence is even weaker than it was.”
Gross would rather see the federal government focus on supporting services for autistic people across the lifespan. The One Big Beautiful Bill significantly cut funding to Medicaid and home and community-based services, which help many autistic people remain independent.
“These (services) are provided to people of all ages. They’re provided to people who need help with activities of daily living. That’s many autistic people,” Gross said. “For many people, these services are the difference between living where they choose and being forced to live in an institution.”
She said the administration’s focus on autism has created a lot of misunderstanding.
“It’s distracting and confusing for anyone, especially new parents who are making decisions about, for example, their children’s vaccines or vaccines schedules and are being told that vaccines may cause autism—even though that’s not true,” Gross said. “It’s concerning for parents of autistic kids who are now essentially being blamed for their kids’ autism and pointed in the direction of fake treatments.”
Prescriptions for leucovorin soar after White House announcement on autism
Meghan Holohan
Today at 4:26 p.m.
Anti-science
Following a White House press conference suggesting leucovorin as a treatment for autism in September 2025, and despite a lack of supporting data, US prescriptions of the drug soared, according to a paper published yesterday in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).“Our findings suggest the press conference may have increased off-label prescribing of leucovorin to children with autism,” lead author Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said in a press release. “This increase is concerning because the effectiveness and long-term safety of leucovorin for children with autism is uncertain.”
700% increase in 2025
Leucovorin is a folic acid analog that doctors use to help patients who have side effects from methotrexate, a drug that treats some cancers and autoimmune conditions. Leucovorin isn’t approved to treat autism, but the US Food and Drug Administration has said it can be used for children with cerebral folate deficiency.
Cerebral folate deficiency is “a rare disorder that can mimic symptoms of autism,” Michael Barnett, MD, of Brown University, and Jeremy Faust, MD, of Mass General Brigham, said in a commentary on a previous study in JAMA Network Open in June.
To understand prescribing trends of leucovorin, in the NEJM study, researchers examined data from the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, which tracks 93% of prescriptions from retail pharmacies, from December 29, 2024, to December 14, 2025.
Prior to the press conference, leucovorin prescriptions increased from 1.0 per 100,000 children to 4.6 per 100,000. Following the press conference, the number of prescriptions increased 46%, from 4.6 per 100,000 children to 6.7 per 100,000. By the end of the study, prescriptions had risen to 8.0 per 100,00 children
It’s concerning for parents of autistic kids who are now essentially being blamed for their kids’ autism and pointed in the direction of fake treatments.
Zoe Gross
In 2025, 47,394 children received 150,026 leucovorin prescriptions. This represents a weekly spike of children with leucovorin prescriptions, from 734 to 5,858, a 700% increase. More prescriptions were given to children ages 6 to 11 living in the southern United States than in other regions. At the same time, the researchers didn’t observe changes in leucovorin prescriptions for adults.
"Our findings demonstrate the power of the federal government to influence medical practice," Chua said. "Given this power, it is important that the government’s messaging about medications is based on rigorous evidence.” ‘
Distracting and confusing’
Some people in the autism community worried that suggesting that leucovorin could treat autism could be harmful.
“It’s very concerning for several reasons. The largest one being that we need our government to be a reassuring voice connecting families to the scientific evidence and pointing people in the right direction of what’s best for children,” Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told CIDRAP News.
“This is not that,” she added. This is telling people to go all in on a random thing that probably doesn’t work.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that more research is needed to examine who might benefit from leucovorin and whether it’s safe and effective.
“When the administration made that recommendation, the evidence wasn’t strong enough,” Gross said. In February 2026, the largest study on leucovorin and autism was retracted. “The evidence is even weaker than it was.”
Gross would rather see the federal government focus on supporting services for autistic people across the lifespan. The One Big Beautiful Bill significantly cut funding to Medicaid and home and community-based services, which help many autistic people remain independent.
“These (services) are provided to people of all ages. They’re provided to people who need help with activities of daily living. That’s many autistic people,” Gross said. “For many people, these services are the difference between living where they choose and being forced to live in an institution.”
She said the administration’s focus on autism has created a lot of misunderstanding.
“It’s distracting and confusing for anyone, especially new parents who are making decisions about, for example, their children’s vaccines or vaccines schedules and are being told that vaccines may cause autism—even though that’s not true,” Gross said. “It’s concerning for parents of autistic kids who are now essentially being blamed for their kids’ autism and pointed in the direction of fake treatments.”