Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the makers of Tylenol — Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue — on Tuesday, accusing them of knowingly hiding the drug’s supposed links to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The lawsuit comes a month after U.S. President Donald Trump said using Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism in children. Trump is not a medical professional, and his claim is unproven and not backed by scientific evidence.
Johnson & Johnson sold Tylenol for more than six decades before spinning off some of its business into a separate company in 2023 called Kenvue, which now sells the brand-name drug. The pain reliever is known generically as acetaminophen.
Kenvue has repeatedly defended Tylenol’s safety and in a statement said it would defend against Paxton’s lawsuit.
“Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy,” Kenvue said. “We are deeply concerned by the perpetuation of misinformation on the safety of acetaminophen.”
Johnson & Johnson did not comment on Paxton’s lawsuit and in a separate statement said Kenvue is responsible for “all rights and liabilities associated with the sale of its over-the-counter products, including Tylenol.”
Shares of Kenvue fell as much as 2.4 per cent in morning trading, while Johnson & Johnson shares fell as much as 1.6 per cent.
Paxton says U.S. ‘confirmed’ Tylenol’s risks
Paxton filed his complaint in a Texas state court in rural Panola County, which borders Louisiana and where Trump won 83 per cent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election.
He said the federal government “confirmed” last month that using acetaminophen during pregnancy likely causes autism and ADHD, and that despite “overwhelming evidence,” Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue did not warn pregnant women of the risks.
Paxton also cited Trump urging pregnant women not to use Tylenol unless it was “absolutely necessary” — a claim the president repeated in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
The attorney general said Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue violated a Texas law against deceptive trade practices by concealing the risks, and that Johnson & Johnson violated one against fraudulent transfers by spinning off Kenvue to shield itself from liability.
Front Burner27:06Autism and Tylenol: what the science says
Health professionals around the world are disputing the Trump administration’s claims about autism and its potential causes. U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., along with President Donald Trump himself, said this week that taking Tylenol while pregnant may cause autism in babies, and the U.S. FDA said it would reclassify the drug leucovorin — primarily used to mitigate chemotherapy side effects — to treat autism symptoms in children.
But the established, peer-reviewed research on autism and its causes does not support either of these claims — or a number of other statements made in that announcement. Health experts have called the claims premature, misleading, and even dangerous.
Deepa Singal, the scientific director of the Autism Alliance of Canada, explains what the science actually says about autism, why health professionals aren’t changing their recommendations, and why autism is so hard to get definitive answers about in the first place.
For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts]
Trump administration’s past claims
Last month, the president said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would start telling doctors that taking acetaminophen can be “associated with a very increased risk” of developing autism.
“I want to say it like it is: Don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it,” Trump said during an official appearance in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. “Fight like hell not to take it.”
The FDA also said they launched the process to have the labels changed on acetaminophen products reflecting that claim.
U.S. President Donald Trump linked autism to the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy, even though experts say there’s no conclusive evidence. Family physician Dr. Peter Lin tells Power & Politics that ‘if you need [acetaminophen] to control high fevers or pain then it is still the safest thing that we have available for pregnant women.’
Following the announcement, Health Canada pushed back on Trump’s claims, reminding Canadians that Tylenol is a recommended treatment for fever and pain and should be used during pregnancy as directed by one’s doctor.
“There is no conclusive evidence that using acetaminophen as directed during pregnancy causes autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders,” Health Canada said on their website at the time.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada also reminded Canadians earlier in September that the painkiller remains “safe and appropriate” for use during pregnancy when necessary.
Hundreds of private lawsuits have also been filed by families who said their children suffered from autism or ADHD after their mothers used Tylenol during pregnancy.
A judge dismissed many of those cases last December, and the federal appeals court in Manhattan will hear arguments in the families’ appeal on Nov. 17.
The law firm Keller Postman represents families in that appeal, and is also working with Paxton on his lawsuit.
Johnson & Johnson separately faces lawsuits from more than 73,000 plaintiffs who said they were diagnosed with cancer after using its baby powder and other talc products.
