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.
Are fucking insane? How on earth do they expect to actually win this lawsuit?
They don’t. It’s part flood the zone, part pandering to certain voters. Look what we do for you! A blue state wouldn’t fight for your health like this!
Nothing will come of it but it’s a positive distraction from the extraction of wealth that is currently happening.
It’s also a very obvious distraction from
THE EPSTEIN FILES
It is a distraction from the hostile fascist takeover of our country. The Epstein shit is a distraction from that.
It’s not “fascist”, it’s ultracapitalist…
It’s both
Fascism is a systemic issue. It’s a cancer that takes roots when democracy starts failing.
Having the concrete and unsystemic problem of there being probable cause Trump did some very, very bad things looked into properly is a much smaller ask.
However, even that’s an imposibility in today’s world.
I’d love to have a magic cure for fascism. There is one, although it’s undoubtedly very unmagic: Painstakingly dealing with obvious lies and crimes, one at a time. Respecting the Constitution. Having people be truly equal. Especially in the eyes of the law.
Without a thourough dose of said cure, fascism will hide away and get ready to rise back up.
The Epstein shit is one step of a bajillion mile journey. It’s not the first and it’s not the last. But without it, there’s no journey to be had.
As someone on the outside looking in, it is ABSOLUTELY INSANE that this still needs to be explained to people.
Well maybe something will come from it, it might inspire laws that make it harder to sue pharma.
I’m not sure if you’re saying this a good thing or a bad thing?
Bad, bad. They just said something come from it. Not something good.
People have tried in the past and each time it got thrown out because the judges ruled they were full of shit. As recently as 2023, even, from Reuters:
Cote, in a 148-page ruling, found that none of the five expert witnesses proposed by the plaintiffs had offered a sound scientific methodology to support their opinion that Tylenol’s active ingredient, acetaminophen, could cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
“Instead, the unstructured approach adopted by the plaintiffs’ experts permitted cherry-picking, allowed a results-driven analysis, and obscured the complexities, inconsistencies, and weaknesses in the underlying data,” she wrote.
Wait, so this “Tylenol cause autism” thing existed prior to this year?
“Vaccines cause autism” was the hit in 2020
It was around in 2022, at least in this iteration, when they consolidated a bunch of cases. The mommy wellness blog machine kicked off hard. Retailers like Walmart were sued too, because people are fucking dumb as rocks.
They’re trying to sue J&J, too. One of the largest corporations in the world. Curious to see where it’ll go. Just seems like all it’ll do is piss off his donors.
Tylenol is made by Kenvue, an independant company spun off by J&J in 2022.
Delusion.
Why wouldn’t they? Reality can be anything in Trump’s America.
By convincing a jury of normal Americans they’re right.
They could request a bench trial. No jury, just the judge.
Honestly they probably expect a settlement to avoid “political trouble.”
This is how recent federal lawsuits ended.
Are the betting markets on how big Tylenol’s donation to trumps library will be?
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”.
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.
The media is fully captured by hard right idealogues.
As are many judges.
Where do Americans learn to equate suing someone with winning a lawsuit? USA has the most lax rules on civil lawsuits, anyone can sue anyone.
Respond to the wrong comment?
I would say “We just made this up in order to sue you because we can’t sue you for not following us”.
America is fanous for suing everyone and everything for a reason.
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.
I’m not a lawyer but shouldn’t J&J be suing the Federal Government for making utterly unsubstantiated claims in an official announcement?
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.
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.
Few years ago I would have agreed. Now, it is guaranteed this is some sort of grift. No conspiracy theory need apply.
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.
I believe it’s called slander?
I really am baffled that they have not sued.
I hope somebody documents every penny Texas wastes on this frivolous crap.
It actually isn’t. This time.
This is what happens when you put conspiracy theorists into office: You get them suing or attacking organisations for things that aren’t real.
But they prefer the right over the left because of taxes and regulations. I wonder when companies will flip, because they cannot handle the business impact of bullshit decisions like random tariffs or lawsuits over made up controversies any longer.
I don’t think they will “flip”. They might start endorsing Democrats but the Democrats as a whole are akin to the British Tory party (right wing and getting righter) despite it’s SocDem and Progressive elements. However, corporations are not a monolith (Siemens Gamesa, who makes windfarms, are going to have different goals than say, Saudi Aramco) and so now, companies like, say, Palatir, who use online data and surveillance data to hunt down “undesirables” will throw money at Trump while companies that rely on outside or worldwide trade may “filp” to the democrats, albeit more right wing candidates, or if they really are scared, might look for a candidate in the Libertarian Party.
I hope they bankrupt the fucking state of Texas. Someone should sue him for wasting taxpayer money. Toss-up on whether I feel bad enough for progressive &/or sensible Texans to care how those two thoughts play-out.
Yeah like if Johnson and Johnson counter sued Texas for their bet worth saying they are intentionally trying to smear and kill their company. It would be like $450 billion.
This timeline is so fucked that J & J somehow managed to be the good guy for once…
Less the good guy, more a target of a bad guy.
Hillbilly Tyrannical Fascist Government
VS
Monopolistic Corrupt Big Pharma Corporation
Who would win?
Stay tuned!
Pharma. Regardless of who’s involved, being able to sue somebody based on made up bullshit is not a good precedent
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.
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.
OK! Good! FINALLY! Now that they’re pulling this shit, big companies have reason to fight back. I was wondering when Proctor and Gamble and Johnson and Johnson would start campaigning to get these psychos out of office, and this should do it.
deleted by creator
Um, the government has been filing frivolous lawsuits against some of the largest companies in the country for the past year. Companies then settle out of court and pay a multi-million dollar
bribesettlement to encourage their mergers to go through. No sign of companies fighting back. If anything, they’re encouraging it by being massive pushovers.Yeah, but this is Texas, not Trump. Paxton doesn’t have anywhere near the same weight to throw around as Trump.
He is a fat fuck, you got that right
Don’t count on companies fighting back. Something tells me that, the moment a company actually fights the govt, they’ll magically remember that said companies are actually violating several state and federal regulations and laws
Nah that admits they may have been at fault for something, much better to counter sue and make the people of Texas pay possibly billions of dollars in stupid lawsuits that they will have to look at their government and say what the fuck, we knew that was bogus
Can a state be the defendant in an anti-slapp case?
I’m not sure, I’m sure every state is different too. May have to get around the sovereign immunity as well. It isn’t impossible, as their are usually clauses that bypass it but Texas may have very few
deleted by creator
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.
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.
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.
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.
Well, THAT should make Discovery a whole lot easier. How does the underside of that bus taste, Abbot? Lol.
I hear that MAGA hats have chemicals that leach into your brain and make you a complete idiot.
Eh, massive correlation is still not causation. No matter how massive.
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.
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
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.
if the whole Tylenol thing causes pregnant women to suffer through more fever
because they avoided vaccines…
But, don’t you have to be a complete idiot to put on a MAGA hat in the first place?
I think you are getting my point now.
correlation is not causation.
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.
Johnson & Johnson should just say “Our bad. We’ll stop selling all our products in your state!”
Then sit back & watch the fallout
Tylenol is basically paracetamol, right? It’s a generic drug. Why are they suing a specific brand?
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.
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.
RFK named the brand because Trump can’t pronounce Acetaminophen.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It’s acetaminophen That’s the name of the drug it contains
AKA: paracetamol
AFAIK paracetamol and Tylenol are both brand names for acetaminophen.
Though if this is incorrect that’s cool.
Yes it is, paracetamol and acetominophen are alternative names for the molecule N-acetyl-para-aminophenol.
Tylenol, Panadol, Doliprane etc. are brand names.TIL.
Love to see it
Guess what they call acetominophen in the UK?
Because you sue who has the most money.
