Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Johnson and Johnson, accusing the pharmaceutical company of failing to warn consumers about the risk of taking Tylenol while pregnant.

This lawsuit, the first of its kind from a state government, comes a month after President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced updated guidance discouraging pregnant women from taking acetaminophen, citing it as a possible cause of autism. The announcement set off a wave of controversy in the health care community, and confusion among pregnant women unsure how they should manage fever and pain during pregnancy.

  • Wilco@lemmy.zip
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    7 days ago

    It is hard to believe this is not an onion article. “We just made this up and now we are suing you for not warning people about the shit we just made up”.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      7 days ago

      I can’t wait for all these bullshit cases to get in front of judges. Some of them already have, and are getting tossed. The media should be covering it much heavier.

      • Wilco@lemmy.zip
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        6 days ago

        Yes, but no. Justice is expensive in the US. The legal system HATES pro se litigants (people that represent themselves), making it harder for them to get paperwork through the courts.

        Those who do have “big money” lawsuits will get represented by ambulance chasing law firms.

        People yell about Medicare for all, but the US really needs constitutionally guaranteed legal representation.

  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
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    7 days ago

    I’m not a lawyer but shouldn’t J&J be suing the Federal Government for making utterly unsubstantiated claims in an official announcement?

    • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
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      7 days ago

      I think they’re waiting for the damages to really rack up. Then they can sue the taxpayer for billions and nobody can stop them.

      • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        We could put on a really big tinfoil hat and say that this is all a plan to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars to J&J by way of crafting an airtight lawsuit for them to win and get awarded an absolutely massive payout.

        • laranis@lemmy.zip
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          Few years ago I would have agreed. Now, it is guaranteed this is some sort of grift. No conspiracy theory need apply.

        • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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          this is all a plan to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars to J&J by way of crafting an airtight lawsuit for them to win and get awarded an absolutely massive payout.

          Not too big of a hat. When J&J had cyanide laced Tylenol capsules come out of a production facility in Illinois in the 80s, not only did they lie to media about cyanide not being in the plant, the FBI repeated the lie and then Ronald Reagan gave a medal to the CEO to help convince Americans it was safe to take this drug, which is well known to cause liver damage.

          Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders, is on Netflix.

          At the time, FBI and Government told everyone the tainted drugs were from a lone nut who put cyanide in the bottles. After those deaths, all drugs have safety seals to this day.

          But a second poisoning came from caplets sealed at the factory and prescribed in a hospital. Only then was it revealed that cyanide was present in the plant, used to calibrate QC instruments. What is incredible is that within a few years, Tylenol sales were stronger than ever in the US. The rest of world curbed use of this drug because of liver toxicity.

  • laserm@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    This timeline is so fucked that J & J somehow managed to be the good guy for once…

    • phx@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Pharma. Regardless of who’s involved, being able to sue somebody based on made up bullshit is not a good precedent

      • Aspharr@lemmy.world
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        Yes, but when was the last time these guys cared about “precedent”? I agree in thinking Pharma wins, but only because money. One CEO visit to the Whitehouse and some brown nosing and Trump will start saying how they’re “good people”.

        We have always been at war with Eastasia.

      • BanMe@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Generally the courts side with industry and money, but this time they’re being asked to choose between that and MAGA, the latter of which has been dominating in courts lately. I am not sure on this one. Kenvue isn’t that big, it’s not part of a behemoth like J&J anymore, I’m not sure that one company has the gravitas to avoid being run over.

  • NutWrench@lemmy.ml
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    6 days ago

    Johnson and Johnson is a huge, multinational pharma company with more money than God. They aren’t going to be intimidated or extorted by this dumbass governor.

    This case will get tossed in the discovery phase when the judge asks for scientific evidence and all the governor can provide are these whoo-whoo dipsh*t theories.

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      5 days ago

      SpongeBob: “One Day Later”

      WASHINGTON ‒ Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Oct. 29 that he does not have “sufficient” evidence to link Tylenol to autism, more than a month after the White House discouraged the medicine’s use by pregnant women and young children.

      Evidence does not show that Kenvue’s pain medicine Tylenol definitively causes autism but that it should still be used cautiously, President Donald Trump’s top health official told reporters. Last month, the president said U.S. health officials would recommend limiting Tylenol’s use.

      “The causative association… between Tylenol given in pregnancy and the perinatal periods is not sufficient to say it definitely causes autism. But it is very suggestive,” Kennedy told reporters, citing animal, blood and observational studies.

      https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/29/health-chief-insufficient-data-tylenol-causes-autism/86972118007/

      Well, THAT should make Discovery a whole lot easier. How does the underside of that bus taste, Abbot? Lol.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      They’re being sneaky.

      As attorney general, Paxton has a different avenue into court than an individual trying to prove that Tylenol caused their child’s autism. While those lawsuits focus on personal injury claims, this suit hinges on two state consumer protection laws, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

      “That overlaps a lot with the science and with the argument that is going on about Tylenol right now, but it’s ultimately a different burden of proof and different damages that we’re going to be seeking,” Keller said.

  • Credibly_Human@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Many have tried, and many have failed to sue them due to a lack of evidence.

    There has been no new evidence btw.

  • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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    6 days ago

    Is there any science proving this? Could I sue “Buckley’s Cough Syrup” because of my gut feeling that they caused my toenail fungus?

    • LittleBorat3@lemmy.world
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      Short answer no. Also correlation is not causation Let’s say child autism is correlated with infection at a certain age then it could be the infection and not the thing you took for the infection.

      They are dumb fucks who cannot read studies. Remember COVID?

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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      6 days ago

      a buddy of mine got a flu shot and then while walking out of the pharmacy he was hit by a car. Coincidence? No way.

    • NutWrench@lemmy.ml
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      6 days ago

      No, because in a court of law, your feelings aren’t the thing that matters. :)

  • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
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    6 days ago

    Wait the state is suing the company? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? The company suing the CDC and RFK Jr. personally due to the clearly slanderous statements?

  • MourningDove@lemmy.zip
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    7 days ago

    It’s all fun and games until you realize discovery is a part of a lawsuit

    Did their lawyers even pass the bar?

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      I feel like there’s an opportunity for a multi-layered Epstein-Barr joke in this whole situation, but I can’t quite put it together.

    • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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      Its called acetaminophen in the states, and there are generics available at every store. Basically each store has a cheaper version of it available under their own branding.

      Likely they are targeting the maker of Tylenol because they did the research and safety testing on it, and all the other stuff is based on that. I’m not a scientist though thats just a guess.

      • cley_faye@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        they did the research and safety testing on it

        You’re missing the largest air quotes of the year here.

          • cley_faye@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            I doubt any govt. member anywhere did any actual research about tylenol or autism, because if they did there would not have been any large scale announcement about false reports, and no lawsuit.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
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      6 days ago

      Same exact drug, just branding.

      It’s because our batshit crazy administration decided to wage war against that particular brand, I suspect they refused to donate their million dollars to the pres’ slush-fund.

      • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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        6 days ago

        Also, Trump can pronounce “Tylenol”, but he stumbles over “acetaminophen” and “paracetamol”. That press conference was pretty funny. We have an executive who can’t say words with more than three syllables.

    • WALLACE@feddit.uk
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      7 days ago

      I think Tylenol must have a total monopoly on paracetamol sales in that country, as they never refer to it by its non-brand name. Going for the specific brand would be the same as suing every manufacturer.

      • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        There absolutely is generic paracetamol, but we often colloquially use the word “tylenol” the same way y’all use “hoover.” It’s technically a brand, but we aren’t always referring to the brand - it’s just another noun sometimes.

        In the case of RFK, I can’t explain if it was intentional to name the brand or if it’s simply one more thing he hasn’t applied that much critical thought to before speaking about.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        6 days ago

        No, we have generic Tylenol here, it’s just called acetaminophen.

        Most people refer to OTC drugs by their most popular brand name over here, in general. People call Ibuprofen “Advil,” for example.

      • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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        6 days ago

        Which is incredible since they had cyanide contaminated capsules come from their manufacturing facility that killed seven people, and this drug is a major cause of liver failure. Most countries avoid it. and yet, no difference in autism rates.

        • invertedspear@lemmy.zip
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          The cyanide thing was a single person covering the murder of their spouse by contaminating a bunch of Tylenol at the same drug store. And that happened decades ago. It’s why there are so many “tamper evident” seals now.

          Unless this actually happened recently and I just never heard about it.

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    God I hope texas eats a big old pharma dick on this one. I feel like they’re just anti women at this point.

  • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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    6 days ago

    I read this as “Tylenol sues Texas for libal”

    Took me a few re-reads to understand the idiots spreading the libel are the ones suing. They’re gonna get counter-sued real fast.

    Unfortunate that the tax payers will shoulder the burden.

    Edit: this is a strange way for a company to get a government subsidiary:

    1. lobby stupid politicians to sue you for stupid reasons
    2. countersue.
    3. Profit.
  • MyOpinion@lemmy.today
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    7 days ago

    I hear that MAGA hats have chemicals that leach into your brain and make you a complete idiot.

      • SippyCup@lemmy.ml
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        7 days ago

        For instance, the correlation between Tylenol and autism.

        Because there is a correlation. Tylenol is shown to be the most effective tool for combating fevers during pregnancy. And as it happens a high fever during pregnancy is also correlated with an increased incidence of autism. And since that was true prior to Tylenol existing, I’m sure if either of them has anything to do with it, it’s the fever.

        • Pup Biru@aussie.zone
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          7 days ago

          if the whole Tylenol thing causes pregnant women to suffer through more fever and that causes more autism… well, laugh is the wrong adjective but the irony would be in abundance

          • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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            6 days ago

            if the whole Tylenol thing causes pregnant women to suffer through more fever

            because they avoided vaccines…

          • SippyCup@lemmy.ml
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            6 days ago

            In very real terms, maga mothers, and mothers who don’t know any better will likely suffer needlessly and give birth to children who will never emotionally mature. My wife’s doctor at least made it very clear that they’re still recommending Tylenol. But that won’t be all doctors.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Given the amount of airborne lead particles in indoor shooting ranges there’s a good argument to be made that failing to take chemical safety precautions will give you brain damage that results in wearing an incredibly stupid red hat with a 70 year old slogan on it.

  • LoafedBurrito@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Texas failing once again at using facts and science. They love to shoot themselves in the foot and blame others for making the gun that shot them.