The State of Texas Top Legal Officer Takes Legal Action Against Acetaminophen Producers Over Autism Spectrum Assertions
The top legal official in Texas Ken Paxton is filing a lawsuit against the manufacturers of Tylenol, claiming the firms withheld safety concerns that the drug posed to children's brain development.
This legal action follows a month after Former President Trump publicized an unsubstantiated connection between using Tylenol - referred to as paracetamol - throughout gestation and autism in young ones.
The attorney general is taking legal action against the pharmaceutical giant, which formerly manufactured the drug, the exclusive pain medication recommended for expectant mothers, and Kenvue, which presently makes it.
In a statement, he stated they "deceived the public by profiting off of suffering and marketing drugs without regard for the dangers."
Kenvue says there is no credible evidence connecting Tylenol to autism spectrum disorder.
"These manufacturers deceived for years, intentionally threatening numerous people to line their pockets," the attorney general, a Republican, declared.
Kenvue commented that it was "very worried by the spread of false claims on the reliability of paracetamol and the potential impact that could have on the well-being of women and children in America."
On its online platform, the company also stated it had "regularly reviewed the pertinent research and there is no credible data that demonstrates a proven link between consuming acetaminophen and autism spectrum disorder."
Associations representing medical professionals and healthcare providers concur.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has stated paracetamol - the key substance in acetaminophen - is among limited choices for expectant mothers to address pain and fever, which can pose significant medical dangers if not addressed.
"In over twenty years of research on the consumption of paracetamol in gestation, no reliable research has successfully concluded that the usage of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children," the organization stated.
This legal action references recent announcements from the Trump administration in arguing the drug is potentially dangerous.
Last month, Trump generated worry from health experts when he advised pregnant women to "fight like hell" not to use Tylenol when unwell.
The US Food and Drug Administration then issued a notice that medical professionals should consider limiting the use of acetaminophen, while also stating that "a direct connection" between the drug and autism spectrum disorder in children has remains unverified.
The Health Department head Kennedy, who oversees the FDA, had pledged in April to conduct "comprehensive study program" that would identify the cause of autism spectrum disorder in a short period.
But authorities warned that identifying a unique factor of autism - believed by scientists to be the consequence of a complicated interplay of genetic and environmental factors - would prove challenging.
Autism spectrum disorder is a category of lifelong neurodivergence and impairment that influences how individuals encounter and engage with the world, and is diagnosed using doctors' observations.
In his lawsuit, the attorney general - a Trump ally who is seeking federal office - alleges Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson "deliberately disregarded and sought to suppress the evidence" around paracetamol and autism spectrum disorder.
The lawsuit seeks to make the companies "destroy any commercial messaging" that claims acetaminophen is safe for expectant mothers.
The Texas lawsuit echoes the complaints of a collection of parents of young ones with autism and ADHD who sued the producers of acetaminophen in recently.
Judicial authorities rejected the legal action, saying studies from the family's specialists was lacking definitive proof.