Paxton filed the swimsuit on Tuesday in Texas state court docket in opposition to Johnson & Johnson, the creators of Tylenol, and Kenvue, a Johnson & Johnson spinoff firm which has bought Tylenol since 2023.
Paxton, who’s at the moment operating for US Senate, alleged that each corporations violated Texas’s client safety legal guidelines by not warning consumers. Paxton can be suing Johnson & Johnson for allegedly violating the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act by “fraudulently transferring liabilities arising from Tylenol” to Kenvue, mentioned the Texas legal professional normal in a press launch.
“Big Pharma betrayed America by profiting off of pain and pushing pills regardless of the risks. These corporations lied for decades, knowingly endangering millions to line their pockets,” mentioned Paxton in a press launch.
Texas is the primary state to file such a swimsuit after the Trump administration claimed final month that acetaminophen, the lively ingredient in Tylenol, carries a threat of autism, regardless of no new proof suggesting that.
The newest swimsuit comes solely days after Donald Trump once more warned pregnant individuals to not take the over-the-counter treatment until “absolutely necessary” and that kids shouldn’t be given Tylenol “for virtually any reason” in feedback made on Truth Social.
Tylenol makers have repeatedly defended the ache treatment. Kenvue launched an announcement on Tuesday in response to Paxton’s lawsuit, saying: “Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy.”
“Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives,” the Kenvue assertion continued.
In a earlier September assertion, Kenvue additionally mentioned that it “strongly disagrees” with assertions that Tylenol could trigger autism. “Sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism,” the assertion mentioned.
Top medical teams have equally defended using Tylenol by pregnant individuals. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) referred to as the Trump administration’s steering on Tylenol “irresponsible”.
“Suggestions that acetaminophen use in pregnancy causes autism are not only highly concerning to clinicians but also irresponsible when considering the harmful and confusing message they send to pregnant patients, including those who may need to rely on this beneficial medicine during pregnancy,” mentioned the group in a September assertion.
The Republican Texas senator John Cornyn, who’s going through a major problem from Paxton, criticised the lawsuit.
“Well, it looks like he can’t help himself. He wants to line the pockets of every trial lawyer in the state,” Cornyn mentioned of Paxton. “He ran off all of his professional staff, and now he has to hire trial lawyers … and they’re some of his biggest supporters.”
Asked if he believed there was a connection between Tylenol and autism, Cornyn mentioned: “Well, I have a JD, which makes me a doctor of jurisprudence, not a medical doctor, not a PhD. So I’ll have to defer to the experts.”
Learn extra:
Kenvue’s Options Limited by Trump Tylenol Claims, Considers Beauty Unit Sell-Off
According to sources aware of the corporate, the American big is contemplating divesting property because it struggles with weakened buyer demand and unproven claims from the US president that Tylenol could possibly be linked to autism.