this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2025
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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.

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[–] Weirdmusic@lemmy.world 223 points 2 days ago (11 children)

Are fucking insane? How on earth do they expect to actually win this lawsuit?

[–] justsomeguy@lemmy.world 184 points 2 days ago (5 children)

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.

[–] Capricorn_Geriatric@lemmy.world 25 points 2 days ago (4 children)

It's also a very obvious distraction from

THE EPSTEIN FILES

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[–] WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca 13 points 2 days ago

As someone on the outside looking in, it is ABSOLUTELY INSANE that this still needs to be explained to people.

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[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 49 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

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.

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[–] HeartyOfGlass@piefed.social 40 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 141 points 2 days ago (6 children)

I'm all for it. Let's have discovery, let's shine a light on this stupidity.

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 48 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Exactly. Like Republicans in 2020 wouldn’t bring any election denial claims to court cause the had no actual evidence

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[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago

These folks never change their views after a court case disproves something. They just assume some sort of deep state is in bed with “big pharma” - even if acetaminophen is a low cost and not a big money maker.

[–] minorkeys@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Assuming the process functions normally and doesn't become political theatre.

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[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You have a lot of faith in a jury system that has historically been terrible at evaluating scientific claims.

[–] BartyDeCanter@lemmy.sdf.org 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Discovery happens well before the jury is seated.

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[–] Wilco@lemmy.zip 122 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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".

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 25 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] edible_funk@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago (3 children)

The media is fully captured by hard right idealogues.

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[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 76 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I’m not a lawyer but shouldn’t J&J be suing the Federal Government for making utterly unsubstantiated claims in an official announcement?

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 22 points 2 days ago (3 children)

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.

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[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

I believe it's called slander?

[–] RustyOwl@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

I really am baffled that they have not sued.

[–] IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 61 points 2 days ago

I hope somebody documents every penny Texas wastes on this frivolous crap.

[–] PixeIOrange@lemmy.world 56 points 2 days ago (1 children)
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[–] abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 55 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This is what happens when you put conspiracy theorists into office: You get them suing or attacking organisations for things that aren't real.

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[–] MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de 43 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Protoknuckles@lemmy.world 30 points 2 days ago (8 children)

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.

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[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 30 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Hillbilly Tyrannical Fascist Government

VS

Monopolistic Corrupt Big Pharma Corporation

Who would win?


Stay tuned!

[–] phx@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Pharma. Regardless of who's involved, being able to sue somebody based on made up bullshit is not a good precedent

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[–] laserm@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This timeline is so fucked that J & J somehow managed to be the good guy for once..

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[–] MourningDove@lemmy.zip 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It’s all fun and games until you realize discovery is a part of a lawsuit

Did their lawyers even pass the bar?

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[–] MyOpinion@lemmy.today 26 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I hear that MAGA hats have chemicals that leach into your brain and make you a complete idiot.

[–] chaogomu@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago

Eh, massive correlation is still not causation. No matter how massive.

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[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 24 points 2 days ago

Johnson & Johnson should just say "Our bad. We'll stop selling all our products in your state!"

Then sit back & watch the fallout

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 22 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Is there any science proving this? Could I sue "Buckley's Cough Syrup" because of my gut feeling that they caused my toenail fungus?

[–] LittleBorat3@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Short answer no. Also correlation is not causation Let's say child autism is correlated with infection at a certain age then it could be the infection and not the thing you took for the infection.

They are dumb fucks who cannot read studies. Remember COVID?

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[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago

God I hope texas eats a big old pharma dick on this one. I feel like they're just anti women at this point.

[–] 1985MustangCobra@lemmy.ca 17 points 2 days ago (8 children)

this is funny as fuck. what's next, allergy medicine causing ADHD?

[–] basiclemmon98@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 2 days ago

Shhhh, don't tell them. It will ruin our plan of infecting all kids with neurodivergence to increase Linux marketshare...

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[–] Chozo@fedia.io 17 points 2 days ago

So glad I left that shithole state. Tired of Ken "Securities Fraud" Paxton wasting my tax dollars on frivolous bullshit like this.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

This is upsetting to me.

I’m barely grasping my spot on the AuADHD space, and now it’s been politicized into a single dimensional disease Republicans are using to virtue signal, like the whole vaccine “debate.”

And I’m in freaking Texas. It’s not as Republican as y’all think, especially in the big metros, but somehow we got Paxton in.


And apparently you guys forgot about previous frivolous lawsuits. Huge media conglomerates, and other institutions, settled with the Trump DoJ because they saw them for what they are: a shake down. “Pay us, or you will find political trouble.”

That’s what’s happening.

The merits do not matter. There is no “fight” here.

J&J is going to settle with Texas and maybe others so MAGA doesn’t persecute them outside the lawsuit.

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Worst of all is that this probably will end in a settlement where the US government gets to claim they were right in exchange for just a "small" donation to the US government

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 19 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

That's what colleges and networks were doing for a while, but since Kimmel stood up to them and won BIG, potential victims have been pushing back. Colleges are refusing money with strings, for one thing.

If J&J is smart (and it's not clear that they are, although they are well-established to be evil), they'll refuse to settle.

[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 15 points 2 days ago (9 children)

If there is a civil war, I suspect that Tylenol would be on the side of the Allies & Union. Texans and MAGA will have to use homeopathic remedies to (not) ease their pain.

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[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 15 points 1 day ago

I read this as "Tylenol sues Texas for libal"

Took me a few re-reads to understand the idiots spreading the libel are the ones suing. They're gonna get counter-sued real fast.

Unfortunate that the tax payers will shoulder the burden.

Edit: this is a strange way for a company to get a government subsidiary:

  1. lobby stupid politicians to sue you for stupid reasons
  2. countersue.
  3. ...
  4. Profit.

Wait the state is suing the company? Shouldn't it be the other way around? The company suing the CDC and RFK Jr. personally due to the clearly slanderous statements?

[–] LoafedBurrito@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Texas failing once again at using facts and science. They love to shoot themselves in the foot and blame others for making the gun that shot them.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Well, some lawyers are about to make a shit load of money as this drags out for a decade.

[–] Credibly_Human@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Many have tried, and many have failed to sue them due to a lack of evidence.

There has been no new evidence btw.

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[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 10 points 2 days ago

It turns out someone really was after his lucky charms!

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Texas based leprechaun association sues all Texan kids for lucky charm thefts going back to the 70's!

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