Leucovorin Prescription Rates in Children With Autism Up After Media Promotion

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By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, Senior Medical Editor, B. Pharm. Last updated on May 21, 2026.

via HealthDay

THURSDAY, May 21, 2026 -- For pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), prescriptions for leucovorin increased steadily through August 2025, followed by a sharp increase coinciding with the Sept. 22, 2025, promotion of leucovorin as a treatment for speech-related deficits associated with ASD by President Trump and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to a research letter published online May 18 in JAMA Network Open.

Joshua M. Rothman, M.D., from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a cohort study to examine recent trends in leucovorin prescribing for children with ASD. Prescription rates were calculated as the number of leucovorin prescriptions per 100,000 outpatient encounters among children with ASD from Jan. 1, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2026.

The analysis included 838,801 patients with ASD contributing 11,913,139 outpatient encounters. The researchers found that after staying stable for two years, there was a steady increase in leucovorin prescription rates, from a monthly mean of 34.1 prescriptions per 100,000 encounters between January 2023 and January 2025 to 335.2 per 100,000 encounters in August 2025. This was followed by a sharp rise to 835.4 per 100,000 encounters in November 2025. In December 2025 and January 2026, prescription rates plateaued but remained elevated.

"The timing was striking," Rothman said in a statement. "The increases began after a widely viewed media story and accelerated again after federal officials publicly discussed the medication. It highlights how rapidly clinical practice can shift when a treatment captures public attention."

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-05-22 02:48

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