4 Topic Commentaries

Autism Announcement Changes Search Behavior

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  Neeraj G. Patel, BA (MD Candidate)

  Medicine; Regulatory Science/Public Health Research

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  Yale School of Medicine

  The White House announcement on autism on September 22, 2025, was associated with large increases in internet searches over the subsequent 2 weeks, including more than 1 million additional searches for leucovorin; nearly 81 000 additional purchasing interest searches for leucovorin, folinic acid, or folate; and more than 4 million additional searches for acetaminophen with pregnancy or autism.

  Source
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  Reshma Ramachandran, MD, MPP, MHS

  General Internal Medicine; Health Policy

  •

  Yale School of Medicine

  Similar associations were not observed for multivitamin or diphenhydramine, used as controls; searches for ibuprofen were increased, which may suggest product confusion or searches for alternative treatments for pain control.

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  Michael L. Barnett, MD, MS

  Health Services Policy & Practice; General Internal Medicine

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  Brown University School of Public Health

  There apparently exists almost no lag between misinformation messaging and measurable changes in clinical practice.

  Source
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  Jeremy Samuel Faust, MD, MS

  Emergency Medicine; Health Services Research

  •

  Harvard Medical School

  In this issue of JAMA Network Open, Patel and colleagues investigate the immediate aftermath of this press conference using a powerful and up-to-date tool to measure public interest in new topics—Google Trends Research.

  Source