Back in September, Dr. Oz and RFK Jr. flanked Trump — or as I call them: Dumber, Dumbest, and Can’t Pronounce Acetaminophen — as they told pregnant women to stop taking Tylenol, alleging an unfounded link between the drug and babies being born with autism. Of course this counsel is patently wrong; doctors routinely advise pregnant women to take Tylenol because it is one of the safest pain relievers out there. Furthermore, it was easily unraveled that the one bit of “evidence” the Tylenol-autism link was based on was the testimony of someone who had been paid to speak against Tylenol. But if there’s one thing Dementia Don has in his dusty corner, it’s an army of GOP sycophants ready to sell their souls and country to do his bidding. Case in point: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has just sued the makers of Tylenol over the (entirely erroneous) claim of its link to autism.
Paxton announced that he was suing manufacturer Kenvue, and former parent company Johnson & Johnson, in an Oct. 28 statement on his official website. In the lawsuit, Paxton claims the companies “knew that acetaminophen—Tylenol’s active ingredient—is dangerous to unborn children and young children. Yet they hid this danger and deceptively marketed Tylenol as the only safe painkiller for pregnant women, violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.”
“Big Pharma betrayed America by profiting off of pain and pushing pills regardless of the risks. These corporations lied for decades, knowingly endangering millions to line their pockets,” Paxton is quoted as saying in the statement.
President Donald Trump made the initial claims that Tylenol, when taken while pregnant, causes “horrible, horrible” autism in a Sept. 22 press conference alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz — despite medical experts disagreeing with the statements.
“People have been taking Tylenol since 1960, and there’s a very long history of safety here,” Dr. Karam Radwan, Director of the UChicago Medicine Neurodevelopmental Clinic, previously told PEOPLE.
Acetaminophen and autism have been the subject of numerous, often inconclusive, studies. Trump’s claims about Tylenol are thought to be largely fueled by research published in August in Environmental Health. While the study authors claim there is a “positive association” between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol — and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, they also said that they “cannot establish causation for any single exposure.”
…A rep for Kenvue told PEOPLE, “Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of the people who use our products. We are deeply concerned by the perpetuation of misinformation on the safety of acetaminophen and the potential impact that could have on the health of American women and children.”
The statement continued: “Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy. Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives. High fevers and pain are widely recognized as potential risks to a pregnancy if left untreated. We will vigorously defend ourselves against these claims and respond per the legal process. We stand firmly with the global medical community that acknowledges the safety of acetaminophen and believe we will continue to be successful in litigation as these claims lack legal merit and scientific support.”
I’m just realizing something: I think a big reason why I got so swept up in the Louvre jewelry heist caper is that it was a glittering distraction from all the sh-tf–kery like this going on at home. Since we must, let’s get into it. First and most importantly, Tylenol is SAFE (and you can read Kenvue’s full statement against the lawsuit here). Second — just because I think this should never be forgotten — is the reminder that Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s brain killed a worm and is still to this day that worm’s graveyard. And point three is all to do with Texas AG Ken Paxton. The guy has hit some political and personal lows in recent years, namely a 2023 impeachment trial (where he was acquitted, sigh) and this summer when his wife filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.” I didn’t know that was an option alongside “irreconcilable differences.” But those public thorns haven’t dissuaded Paxton from challenging incumbent Senator John Cornyn to be the Republican nominee in next year’s midterms. Trump has yet to endorse a candidate. Hmm, I wonder what would curry his favor?
Didn’t Kennedy publicly announce just 2 days ago that there isn’t sufficient evidence to link Tylenol to autism?
Yes. Yes, he did.
But Dr. Oz needs to sell some supplements, so …
And the charge in position received barely any coverage.The most important and consequential decisions for Americans are being made by the biggest fools. Sigh.
These people dangerous idiots, who think they are brilliant. It makes for scary times, so when Tylenol gets banned so does every single acetaminophen based pain reliever.. good luck to renal failure patients, like me, who can’t take ibuprofen or anti inflammatory medications. I’m so tired of all this unnecessary upheaval of everything.. we are focusing on the wrong things and I don’t think we will ever be ok again.
Tylenol should conter sue and sue the T admin too.
I don’t understand why they haven’t yet?
The war on women is real and intense when the evangelical taliban can’t even allow women pain relief without assigning false blame for a make-believe cause and effect relationship. These $#@#ers are just so loathesome. I hope the makers of Tylenol sue them all into oblivion, but ultimately it will be the tax payers who have to pay for this horror.
RFKjr and ‘nobody had autism when I was young’ nonsense will get an awakening if the proceedings are on the level. Because yes they did have autism. Folks just bullied for being ‘odd’.
One of the reasons why the numbers have increased is because of recognitions of different behavior being a part of the spectrum.
Another important reason is that once a child is diagnose, one (or both parents) is recognized as being on the spectrum also.
There is a strong genetic component. Let’s see how they manage to blame Tylenol for that.
Do…do they have schools in Texas? Or…books? Is there lead in the water supply in Texas? Like…a lot of it? 😒
Yes we have schools, but as for books…Republicans sure do like to ban them. Sigh.
This will backfire. The administration will look ridiculous in courtl
This will backfire. The administration will look ridiculous in court.
I hate it here.
This motherf*cking piece of 💩. He’s doing this bs instead of his actual f*cking job and I hope we get to see all the biblical grounds he got divorced for. Some a hole Republican voting group is suing the state for something insane and he’s refusing to defend the state in court, or allow his office to, because he wants them to win. Him, Abbott and Cruz I will end up in jail if I’m ever unlucky enough to see them in person because the slapping I will do to get the smug looks off their faces…
And Paxton thought he had a chance at being the US AG. Like he really thought it was going to happen, and my only comfort in the sitting AG is that it hurt his ego to get overlooked for a woman.
I live in Texas and this is 100% a butt-licking strategy to get Trump’s endorsement. Cornyn’s entire campaign is about how he is inseparable from Trump. Hope this backfires for them all! (I routinely call Cornyn’s office to let his staff know that whenever I see a photo of Trump and Cornyn together, my brain involuntarily add in an image of a ghostly Jeffrey Epstein between them.)
We’ve got real primaries for both major parties for Cornyn’s seat. I’m behind James Talarico — former colleague and all-around mensch!
I’m a Texan and the fact that fools like Ken Paxton get elected here brings me nothing but despair. Good ole Ken’s wife, herself a Texas legislator, filed for divorce last year after it was revealed that he had a long term affair with his chief of staff. The super classy other woman then tweeted “you can’t always get what you want, but I can”. Lovely. But I guess some dreams aren’t meant to be because now they have broken up. Meanwhile Texas is stuck with a stupid, adultery committing idiot AG who would sit and bark like a dog if Trump told him to.
He moved on from that long-term mistress to a new Christian influencer mistress. That’s what prompted Angela to file for divorce. The Christian influencer mistress (Tracy Duhon) has implants and long blonde hair. She was married for 27 years before leaving her wealthy husband for Paxton.
Good old family values!
We are living in the dumbest of times.
How bout we fully explore the link between crusty, too-old to be fathering children sperm?
Stop trying to blame women for EVERYTHING.
I hope Tylenol counter sues and bankrupts the state and Dr oz and RFK .