🔗 Share this article

The top legal official in Texas Ken Paxton is filing a lawsuit against the makers of acetaminophen, asserting the companies withheld safety concerns that the drug posed to children's brain development.

The court filing comes four weeks after Former President Trump advocated an unverified association between consuming Tylenol - alternatively called acetaminophen - while pregnant and autism spectrum disorder in offspring.

Paxton is suing the pharmaceutical giant, which previously sold the drug, the sole analgesic recommended for women during pregnancy, and the current manufacturer, which presently makes it.

In a statement, he said they "betrayed America by profiting off of discomfort and promoting medication ignoring the potential hazards."

The manufacturer says there is lacking scientific proof tying acetaminophen to autism.

"These corporations lied for decades, knowingly endangering numerous people to line their pockets," the attorney general, from the Republican party, said.

The manufacturer said in a statement that it was "deeply concerned by the spread of false claims on the safety of paracetamol and the potential impact that could have on the well-being of American women and children."

On its website, the company also stated it had "regularly reviewed the applicable studies and there is no credible data that indicates a proven link between using paracetamol and autism."

Groups acting on behalf of medical professionals and health professionals agree.

ACOG has said paracetamol - the primary component in acetaminophen - is a restricted selection for women during pregnancy to manage discomfort and fever, which can create significant medical dangers if not addressed.

"In more than two decades of investigation on the utilization of paracetamol in gestation, no reliable research has successfully concluded that the use of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy leads to neurodevelopmental disorders in children," the organization said.

This legal action mentions recent announcements from the Trump administration in claiming the medication is potentially dangerous.

In recent weeks, the former president raised alarms from health experts when he told women during pregnancy to "resist strongly" not to take acetaminophen when sick.

The FDA then released a statement that physicians should consider limiting the use of Tylenol, while also mentioning that "a direct connection" between the drug and autism spectrum disorder in children has remains unverified.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who supervises the FDA, had vowed in spring to undertake "extensive scientific investigation" that would identify the source of autism in a short period.

But authorities warned that finding a unique factor of autism spectrum disorder - thought by researchers to be the outcome of a complicated interplay of genetic and environmental factors - would prove challenging.

Autism spectrum disorder is a type of enduring cognitive variation and condition that affects how people perceive and interact with the surroundings, and is identified using doctors' observations.

In his legal document, the attorney general - aligned with the former president who is running for federal office - asserts Kenvue and J&J "willfully ignored and attempted to silence the science" around paracetamol and autism spectrum disorder.

This legal action seeks to make the corporations "eliminate any commercial messaging" that states acetaminophen is safe for women during pregnancy.

This legal action mirrors the grievances of a collection of mothers and fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD who filed suit against the manufacturers of Tylenol in recently.

Judicial authorities rejected the legal action, stating research from the plaintiffs' authorities was inconclusive.