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During the Biden administration, the Texas Office of the Attorney General was a reliable production facility for lawsuits against the president. But in 2025, AG Ken Paxton has aimed his litigious pursuits not toward the current president but at many whom President Donald Trump deems worthy of targeting.
On Tuesday morning, the New York Times reported that Paxton’s office sued the makers of Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue, “claiming that the companies hid the risks of the drug on brain development of children.”
Shortly after the Times report was published, Paxton’s office released a statement with the headline “Attorney General Paxton Sues Big Pharma Manufacturers for Deceptively Marketing Tylenol to Pregnant Mothers Despite Known Dangers to Unborn Children.”
“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,” said Attorney General Paxton in the news release. “Additionally, seeing that the day of reckoning was coming, Johnson & Johnson attempted to escape responsibility by illegally offloading their liability onto a different company. By holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help Make America Healthy Again.”
For the uninitiated, the final four words in the above paragraph are telling. “Make America Healthy Again” has been the Trump-esque slogan used regularly by Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr since his appointment in early 2025. In September, Kennedy and Trump alleged that the active ingredient in the Tylenol pain reliever, acetaminophen, can help cause neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism when taken during pregnancy.
According to the New York Times report, the alleged connection between Tylenol and autism or even ADHD has some mainstream support in the scientific community and is already being tested in the courts.
“Hundreds of lawsuits in state and federal courts have been filed in recent years by families who claimed that their children were diagnosed with autism or A.D.H.D. after use of Tylenol during pregnancy,” the Times writes. “In the largest group of cases, filed in federal court, a U.S. judge in New York dismissed the lawsuits, citing a lack of reliable scientific evidence. The plaintiffs are appealing the decision, with a hearing in front of an appellate panel scheduled for Nov. 17.”
Paxton’s Plea to Trump
The timing of this particular lawsuit is also noteworthy for yet another reason. Months away from the Republican primary for the 2026 U.S. Senate election, Paxton is in a tight battle with Republican incumbent John Cornyn for the nomination. The president has not yet given either candidate his endorsement, although both have been publicly vocal in their desires for it, with Cornyn running television ads touting his Trump-approved voting record.
As conscientious Texas news followers likely already understand, Paxton has spent years filing suits that align with President Trump’s interests in one form or another, including a prominent, but failed attempt to call the results of the 2020 presidential election into question. Earlier this year, Paxton led the legal charge to seek the removal of Democratic state lawmakers who broke quorum during the controversial, Trump-powered Congressional redistricting vote that resulted in what experts say will net the GOP additional seats on the federal level. We reached out to Paxton’s office to ask if either President Trump or Kennedy had requested he file this suit, but did not receive an immediate reply.
The Tuesday lawsuit also follows a Sunday Trump Truth Social post where the president doubled down on his anti-Tylenol stance, writing, “Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN 5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS! President DJT”
