A U.S. appeals court is set to hear arguments on Monday from families seeking to revive more than 500 lawsuits alleging that Tylenol use during pregnancy is linked to autism in children. The plaintiffs point to a September press conference in which former President Donald Trump and top health officials publicly promoted the disputed claims. A lower court dismissed the lawsuits in 2024, sharply criticizing the plaintiffs’ expert testimony as unreliable. Researchers maintain there is no firm evidence tying acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, to autism, and drugmaker Kenvue continues to assert that the product is safe.
Kenvue, formerly part of Johnson & Johnson, is currently being acquired by Kimberly-Clark in a deal worth over $40 billion, set to close next year. The companies told U.S. regulators that issues related to allegations involving autism or ADHD risks would not derail the merger. The plaintiffs argue the lower-court judge failed to properly evaluate their experts’ opinions, while Kenvue supports the earlier ruling. An attorney for the families did not respond to requests for comment.
The litigation comes as Kenvue also defends a separate case filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accuses the company of concealing risks linked to Tylenol use during pregnancy. A Texas judge recently denied Paxton’s request to halt Kenvue’s planned $398 million dividend and refused to order temporary changes to its marketing. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who oversees the centralized Tylenol litigation, previously wrote that the plaintiffs’ experts had obscured key weaknesses in the data, prompting the appeals process now underway.
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