Texas Top Legal Officer Files Lawsuit Against Acetaminophen Manufacturers Concerning Autism Allegations
The top legal official in Texas Ken Paxton is taking legal action against the manufacturers of acetaminophen, alleging the corporations withheld alleged dangers that the medication posed to children's cognitive development.
The lawsuit arrives thirty days after President Donald Trump promoted an unverified association between using acetaminophen - alternatively called acetaminophen - while pregnant and autism spectrum disorder in children.
The attorney general is suing Johnson & Johnson, which once produced the drug, the sole analgesic recommended for pregnant women, and Kenvue, which presently makes it.
In a statement, he stated they "deceived the public by profiting off of suffering and promoting medication regardless of the potential hazards."
The company states there is insufficient reliable data linking Tylenol to autism.
"These corporations lied for decades, knowingly endangering millions to boost earnings," the attorney general, from the Republican party, declared.
Kenvue said in a statement that it was "very worried by the spread of false claims on the reliability of paracetamol and the likely effects that could have on the well-being of US mothers and children."
On its online platform, Kenvue also said it had "regularly reviewed the applicable studies and there is lacking reliable evidence that demonstrates a verified association between taking paracetamol and autism spectrum disorder."
Groups acting on behalf of physicians and health professionals share this view.
ACOG has declared acetaminophen - the primary component in Tylenol - is among limited choices for expectant mothers to address discomfort and fever, which can present serious health risks if ignored.
"In multiple decades of research on the utilization of paracetamol in gestation, no reliable research has successfully concluded that the use of paracetamol in any period of pregnancy causes neurological conditions in children," the association said.
This legal action cites current declarations from the Trump administration in asserting the drug is allegedly unsafe.
Recently, Trump caused concern from health experts when he told expectant mothers to "struggle intensely" not to consume Tylenol when unwell.
The FDA then issued a notice that doctors should think about restricting the usage of Tylenol, while also stating that "a proven link" between the drug and autism in young ones has not been proven.
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who manages the Food and Drug Administration, had vowed in April to initiate "extensive scientific investigation" that would identify the origin of autism in a limited time.
But specialists cautioned that finding a unique factor of autism - thought by researchers to be the consequence of a intricate combination of inherited and environmental factors - would be difficult.
Autism is a type of enduring cognitive variation and condition that influences how individuals perceive and relate to the environment, and is recognized using physician assessments.
In his lawsuit, Paxton - a Trump ally who is running for the Senate - claims Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson "deliberately disregarded and tried to quiet the research" around acetaminophen and autism.
The lawsuit attempts to require the firms "eliminate any promotional materials" that states acetaminophen is reliable for women during pregnancy.
The court case mirrors the concerns of a assembly of parents of young ones with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD who filed suit against the manufacturers of Tylenol in two years ago.
A federal judge threw out the legal action, saying investigations from the parents' expert witnesses was inconclusive.