Texas Sues Tylenol Following Trump Administration’s Unproven Autism Claims
Last month, President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly drew a link between acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, and autism, urging pregnant women to abstain from the drug despite many medical experts challenging that assertion.
On Monday, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue, a spinoff company that currently manufactures Tylenol, alleging that the corporations “deceptively marketed Tylenol as the only safe painkiller for pregnant women” despite knowing of potential risks to babies and young children.
In the filing, Paxton directly invoked the Trump administration’s findings on the issue, saying that the federal government “confirmed what Defendants knew for years: acetaminophen use during pregnancy likely causes conditions like [autism spectrum disorder] and ADHD,” in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act.
The lawsuit also alleges that Johnson & Johnson spun off its consumer health division and “fraudulently transferred its Tylenol-related liabilities” to Kenvue in order to “shield its illgotten assets from the families they harmed.”
Paxton’s lawsuit comes as the attorney general is seeking to challenge Republican senator John Cornyn for his seat, a primary that is predicted to be one of the most expensive of the 2026 election cycle.
In a statement, Kenvue denounced Paxton’s lawsuit as “scientifically unfounded,” saying that the company is “deeply concerned by the perpetuation of misinformation on the safety of acetaminophen and the potential impact that could have on the health of American women and children.”
“We will vigorously defend ourselves against these claims and respond per the legal process. We stand firmly with the global medical community that acknowledges the safety of acetaminophen and believe we will continue to be successful in litigation as these claims lack legal merit and scientific support,” the statement read.
Trump’s September press conference on his administration’s findings was criticized by numerous medical experts who pushed back on the idea that a link between Tylenol and autism had been definitively proved and blasted the president’s spreading of misinformation on vaccines in the same event. But Trump has continued to promote unsupported medical advice with zeal on social media. “Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN 5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS!,” he wrote on Truth Social Sunday.