🔗 Share this article

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking legal action against the makers of Tylenol, asserting the companies hid potential risks that the drug created to pediatric cognitive development.

This legal action arrives thirty days after Donald Trump publicized an unverified association between using acetaminophen - referred to as acetaminophen - throughout gestation and autism in children.

Paxton is suing Johnson & Johnson, which once produced the drug, the only pain reliever approved for expectant mothers, and the current manufacturer, which presently makes it.

In a official comment, he said they "misled consumers by making money from discomfort and promoting medication ignoring the risks."

The company says there is no credible evidence connecting Tylenol to autism spectrum disorder.

"These companies lied for decades, intentionally threatening countless individuals to increase profits," Paxton, a Republican, said.

The company stated officially that it was "deeply concerned by the dissemination of inaccurate information on the safety of acetaminophen and the potential impact that could have on the health of American women and children."

On its official site, Kenvue also said it had "consistently assessed the pertinent research and there is insufficient valid information that demonstrates a verified association between consuming paracetamol and autism spectrum disorder."

Groups speaking for medical professionals and health professionals share this view.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has declared acetaminophen - the primary component in acetaminophen - is one of the few options for women during pregnancy to manage discomfort and elevated temperature, which can pose major wellness concerns if left untreated.

"In over twenty years of research on the consumption of paracetamol in gestation, not a single reputable study has conclusively proven that the use of paracetamol in any trimester of pregnancy results in neurological conditions in children," the organization said.

The lawsuit cites current declarations from the former administration in arguing the drug is allegedly unsafe.

Recently, Trump generated worry from public health officials when he instructed expectant mothers to "struggle intensely" not to take Tylenol when ill.

Federal regulators then released a statement that doctors should consider limiting the consumption of acetaminophen, while also declaring that "a proven link" between the drug and autism spectrum disorder in minors has remains unverified.

Health Secretary RFK Jr, who oversees the Food and Drug Administration, had pledged in spring to conduct "comprehensive study program" that would establish the origin of autism in a short period.

But specialists cautioned that identifying a unique factor of autism - considered by experts to be the outcome of a complex mix of genetic and external influences - would not be simple.

Autism spectrum disorder is a category of lifelong neurodivergence and disability that affects how persons experience and relate to the environment, and is recognized using doctors' observations.

In his legal document, the attorney general - aligned with the former president who is campaigning for federal office - alleges Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson "intentionally overlooked and attempted to silence the evidence" around acetaminophen and autism.

The case attempts to require the companies "eliminate any marketing or advertising" that asserts Tylenol is secure for expectant mothers.

The Texas lawsuit echoes the grievances of a group of parents of young ones with autism and ADHD who filed suit against the producers of acetaminophen in two years ago.

The court rejected the case, stating investigations from the parents' expert witnesses was lacking definitive proof.