Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues the pharmaceutical companies behind Tylenol for “deceptively advertising” the drug as a safe option for pregnant women.
lawsuit The Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue lawsuit, which Paxton filed Tuesday, alleged that the companies knew that exposure to acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, before birth or in early childhood led to an increased risk of autism and other diseases, but hid that information from consumers.
President Donald Trump said that using Tylenol during pregnancy increases the child's risk of autism in a September statement after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that using Tylenol during pregnancy increases the child's risk of autism. promised earlier this year to find out what was “causing the autism epidemic.”
Leader of Obstetrics experts and medical associations, however, largely disputed the stated connection and the quality of the studies the Trump administration relied on in conducting it.
“Suggestions that acetaminophen use during pregnancy causes autism are not only of great concern to physicians, but are also irresponsible given the harmful and confusing message they send to pregnant patients, including those who may have to rely on this beneficial medication during pregnancy,” Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), said in September. “In more than two decades of research on acetaminophen use during pregnancy, no authoritative study has concluded that acetaminophen use in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental problems in children.”
Read more: Trump links Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism. What does science show?
Paxton, however, pointed to the Trump administration's claims in his state's lawsuit, arguing that drug companies have long had access to the evidence cited by the administration but refused to take action.
“These corporations have lied for decades, knowingly putting millions of people in danger to line their pockets,” Paxton. said in a press release. “By holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help make America healthy again.”
The Texas lawsuit is the first brought by a state government against drug companies over the alleged link between Tylenol and autism. But hundreds of families with children with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have filed lawsuits over similar claims.
Kenvue, which spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023 and has since sold Tylenol, has repeatedly defended the drug's safety and rejected accusations that it misleads customers. “Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of the people who use our products. We are deeply concerned about the persistence of misinformation about the safety of acetaminophen and the potential impact it may have on the health of American women and children,” the company said in a statement. answer to the claim. “We stand firmly with the global medical community in recognizing the safety of acetaminophen and believe we will continue to be successful in litigation as these claims lack legal strength and scientific support.”
Johnson and Johnson said Several news outlets said the company “sold its consumer healthcare business many years ago, and all rights and obligations related to the sale of its over-the-counter products, including Tylenol (acetaminophen), belong to Kenvue.” TIME has reached out to Johnson & Johnson for comment.
New York federal judge dismisses some lawsuits earlier this year due to lack of reliable scientific data. The plaintiffs are appealing this decision. Many other cases are still pending before the court system.
In addition to allegations that the companies hid the risks of acetaminophen, Paxton's lawsuit also alleges that Johnson & Johnson sought to avoid responsibility for its actions by spinning off Kenvue. Before the spin-off, Johnson & Johnson sold Tylenol for more than six decades.
The lawsuit is one of several the Texas Attorney General has filed against health care and pharmaceutical companies.
Paxton, who is running for the U.S. Senate, previously filed lawsuits against Eli Lilly, alleging the company bribed health care providers to prescribe GLP-1 drugs and other drugs it makes, and Pfizer. Paxton filed an appeal in his latest lawsuit, in which he alleged the company unlawfully misrepresented the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine after a district court fired happening. Pfizer previously said the lawsuit was without merit and that the company's “claims about its COVID-19 vaccine were accurate and scientifically supported.” In August, an Eli Lilly spokesman said the company intends to “vigorously defend” the lawsuit, pointing to previous court decisions that found such allegations to be unfounded.
The Attorney General of Texas and the top prosecutors in many other states, won compensation of $700 million against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit accusing the company of making misleading claims about its talc-based baby powder.
