Texas Top Legal Officer Files Lawsuit Against Acetaminophen Makers Concerning Autism Spectrum Claims
Texas Attorney General Paxton is filing a lawsuit against the producers of Tylenol, claiming the corporations withheld potential risks that the drug posed to children's neurological development.
The court filing comes a month after President Donald Trump promoted an unsubstantiated connection between taking acetaminophen - alternatively called acetaminophen - during pregnancy and autism in offspring.
Paxton is taking legal action against Johnson & Johnson, which formerly manufactured the medication, the exclusive pain medication suggested for pregnant women, and Kenvue, which presently makes it.
In a official comment, he claimed they "betrayed America by profiting off of discomfort and pushing pills ignoring the risks."
The manufacturer asserts there is lacking scientific proof connecting acetaminophen to autism.
"These companies lied for decades, deliberately risking numerous people to increase profits," the attorney general, from the Republican party, stated.
Kenvue commented that it was "seriously troubled by the dissemination of inaccurate information on the reliability of paracetamol and the potential impact that could have on the well-being of American women and children."
On its official site, the company also mentioned it had "continuously evaluated the relevant science and there is lacking reliable evidence that indicates a established connection between taking paracetamol and autism."
Associations speaking for medical professionals and health professionals agree.
ACOG has stated paracetamol - the key substance in Tylenol - is one of the few options for expectant mothers to manage pain and elevated temperature, which can present serious health risks if left untreated.
"In more than two decades of research on the utilization of paracetamol in gestation, not a single reputable study has successfully concluded that the consumption of acetaminophen in any period of gestation leads to neurodevelopmental disorders in children," the association commented.
The lawsuit references current declarations from the previous government in arguing the drug is allegedly unsafe.
In recent weeks, the former president generated worry from health experts when he instructed pregnant women to "resist strongly" not to take acetaminophen when ill.
The FDA then published an announcement that medical professionals should think about restricting the consumption of Tylenol, while also stating that "a direct connection" between the medication and autism spectrum disorder in young ones has remains unverified.
The Health Department head Robert F Kennedy Jr, who oversees the FDA, had promised in spring to conduct "extensive scientific investigation" that would establish the source of autism spectrum disorder in a matter of months.
But experts advised that finding a sole reason of autism - thought by researchers to be the consequence of a intricate combination of inherited and environmental factors - would prove challenging.
Autism spectrum disorder is a category of lifelong neurodivergence and disability that influences how persons perceive and engage with the environment, and is recognized using medical professional evaluations.
In his legal document, the attorney general - a Trump ally who is campaigning for the Senate - alleges the manufacturer and Johnson & Johnson "deliberately disregarded and attempted to silence the science" around acetaminophen and autism.
The lawsuit seeks to make the firms "remove any promotional materials" that asserts acetaminophen is reliable for expectant mothers.
This legal action mirrors the concerns of a assembly of guardians of children with autism and ADHD who filed suit against the producers of Tylenol in 2022.
Judicial authorities dismissed the case, declaring investigations from the family's specialists was lacking definitive proof.