The Kenvue lawsuit most people are asking about is the consumer protection case Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed in October 2025 against Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson, accusing the companies of marketing Tylenol as safe for pregnant women while allegedly hiding research linking prenatal acetaminophen use to autism and ADHD. The case survived a motion to dismiss in February 2026 and is now in early discovery. It sits alongside a federal multidistrict litigation whose fate is on appeal, a wave of newer state-court suits, and a pending $40 billion-plus acquisition of Kenvue by Kimberly-Clark.
What Texas Is Alleging
Paxton filed suit on October 28, 2025, in the 123rd District Court of Panola County, Texas, against Johnson & Johnson, Kenvue Inc., and Kenvue Brands LLC. The complaint says the companies knew “for decades” that acetaminophen carried risks of autism spectrum disorder and ADHD for children exposed in utero, yet marketed Tylenol as “the only safe painkiller for pregnant women” and never placed a neurodevelopmental warning on the label.1Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Paxton Sues Big Pharma Manufacturers Deceptively Marketing Tylenol to Pregnant Mothers
The suit rests on two Texas statutes. The first is the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, aimed at the marketing itself. The second is the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, which Paxton uses to argue that Johnson & Johnson created Kenvue specifically to shield its main assets from Tylenol liability.2Texas Tribune. Texas Tylenol Johnson Lawsuit RFK Ken Paxton Autism The state is asking for a jury trial, civil penalties of $10,000 per violation, and an order requiring the companies to destroy marketing materials that represent Tylenol as safe for pregnant women and children.3CNN. Tylenol Lawsuit Texas Ken Paxton
How the Case Has Moved Through Court
Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson removed the case to federal court in the Eastern District of Texas on November 6, 2025, arguing the claims raised substantial federal questions. Texas moved for an emergency remand. Two days later, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker sent the case back to Panola County and denied the defendants’ motion to stay proceedings.4CourtListener. The State of Texas v. Johnson & Johnson Docket
On November 14, 2025, state District Judge LeAnn Rafferty denied Paxton’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked Kenvue from paying a $398 million quarterly dividend. Kenvue argued the Texas court had no jurisdiction over dividend payments by a New Jersey-based, Delaware-incorporated company in the ordinary course of business. The judge also declined to order Kenvue to change its marketing in the interim.5Reuters. Judge Weigh if Texas AG Can Block Kenvue Dividend Over Tylenol
The bigger ruling came on February 26, 2026, when Judge Rafferty denied Kenvue’s motion to dismiss in a one-sentence order with no written reasoning. Kenvue had argued that federal law preempted the claims because the FDA, not a state attorney general, controls acetaminophen labeling, and that restricting its marketing would violate the First Amendment.6Reuters. Judge Rejects Kenvue Bid Dismiss Texas Lawsuit Over Tylenol The case moved into early discovery.
Kenvue’s Defense
Kenvue has called the Texas suit “scientifically unsound” and “politically and financially motivated,” and described it as “gamesmanship orchestrated by the plaintiffs’ bar” seeking to revive claims federal courts have already rejected. The company points to more than a decade of FDA reviews that, it says, found no causal link between acetaminophen and autism, and describes the drug as “the safest pain reliever option available to women as needed throughout the entirety of their pregnancies.”7Kenvue. Statement in Response to Texas AG Filing
Kenvue has also formally asked the FDA to deny a citizen petition from the Informed Consent Action Network requesting a pregnancy warning on acetaminophen, arguing the proposed change would be “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law” and could discourage pregnant women from treating dangerous fevers.8Kenvue. Kenvue Brands Citizen Petition Response
Johnson & Johnson has tried to distance itself from the litigation. A company spokesperson told reporters that J&J divested its consumer health business and that the relevant rights and liabilities now belong to Kenvue.9CBS News. Texas Ken Paxton Tylenol Lawsuit Autism Claims
Why the Corporate Split Matters
Johnson & Johnson spun its consumer health business into Kenvue through a May 2023 IPO, and Kenvue became fully independent on August 23, 2023. In the separation, Kenvue took on the Tylenol brand and the liability for Tylenol-related claims, along with certain non-U.S., non-Canada asbestos claims tied to J&J baby powder.10Bloomberg Law. J&J Spinoff Kenvue Defeats Suits Alleging Tylenol Causes Autism That inheritance is the target of Texas’s fraudulent transfer theory: the state argues the arrangement was structured to keep J&J’s main assets out of reach of Tylenol plaintiffs. Whether the structure actually violates the fraudulent transfer statute has not been tested on the merits.
The Federal MDL That Came Before
Starting in 2022, parents of children with autism and ADHD filed hundreds of personal injury suits against manufacturers of Tylenol and generic acetaminophen. Those cases were consolidated into In re Acetaminophen—ASD/ADHD Products Liability Litigation, No. 22-md-3043, in the Southern District of New York before Judge Denise Cote.11U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. In re Acetaminophen – ASD-ADHD Products Liability Litigation
The MDL effectively collapsed when Judge Cote excluded all five of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses in two rulings issued in late 2023 and mid-2024, finding their methodology flawed and out of step with scientific consensus. The rulings affected roughly 550 pending cases. Plaintiffs appealed to the Second Circuit, which heard arguments on November 17, 2025. During the hearing, the three-judge panel reportedly suggested that some expert testimony might have been admissible and that a jury could have weighed the evidence.12Reuters. US Appeals Court to Weigh Reviving Cases Over Tylenol Autism A decision is pending.
Paxton’s case is built to avoid the wall the MDL ran into. Rather than personal injury claims that require proof of individual causation, the Texas suit turns on what the companies said to consumers and how they arranged their corporate liabilities.
The Science Is Contested
The factual question underneath every version of this litigation is whether prenatal acetaminophen actually raises the risk of autism or ADHD. The evidence is split.
An August 2025 review published in BMC Environmental Health, led by researchers at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine with Harvard’s Andrea Baccarelli as senior author, analyzed 46 prior studies covering over 100,000 participants and reported “evidence of an association” between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders, with the strongest signal when use lasted four weeks or more.13Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai Study Supports Evidence That Prenatal Acetaminophen Use May Be Linked to Increased Risk of Autism and ADHD
A larger review published in The Lancet in January 2026, led by Dr. Asma Khalil of St. George’s Hospital, University of London, examined 43 studies and prioritized sibling-comparison designs, which compare siblings whose mothers used acetaminophen in one pregnancy but not another to control for genetic and socioeconomic factors. It found no clinically important increase in the risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. A 2024 Swedish study of more than two million children reached a similar conclusion once sibling comparisons were applied.14STAT News. Tylenol Autism Lancet Study Finds No Acetaminophen Link The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has stated that “not one reputable study has concluded that acetaminophen use in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children.”15CNN. Tylenol FDA Label Change
The Federal Government’s Involvement
On September 22, 2025, President Trump, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other federal officials publicly advised pregnant women not to take acetaminophen and not to give it to babies unless “absolutely necessary.” Trump said: “If you’re pregnant, don’t take Tylenol.”16Axios. Trump Tylenol Lawsuit FDA Review The FDA issued a letter to physicians the same day, acknowledging reports of a possible association with autism or ADHD while noting that “a causal relationship has not been established and there are contrary studies in the scientific literature.”17FDA. FDA Responds Evidence Possible Association Between Autism and Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy The agency also began a process to update acetaminophen labels.
The Informed Consent Action Network filed a citizen petition (FDA-2025-P-4153-0001) asking the FDA to add a specific pregnancy warning. As of mid-2026, the FDA had not acted on the petition or finalized any label changes.18Regulations.gov. FDA-2025-P-4153-0001
Other Lawsuits Kenvue Is Facing
New Tylenol-related suits have been filed in state courts in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Illinois, and plaintiffs’ attorneys expect activity to accelerate in the second half of 2026.19New York Times. Tylenol Autism Acetaminophen Study
Separately, Kenvue faces a securities class action in the District of New Jersey (Case No. 1:23-cv-20998) brought by investor James Hammond on behalf of purchasers of Kenvue stock traceable to its May 2023 IPO. The complaint alleges the registration statement failed to disclose known concerns about the efficacy of phenylephrine, a decongestant used in products such as Sudafed PE and Tylenol Sinus + Headache. The claims arise under Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933.20Saxena White. Kenvue Securities Class Action Complaint That case is unrelated to the autism allegations.
The Kimberly-Clark Deal
On November 3, 2025, Kimberly-Clark announced an agreement to acquire Kenvue for approximately $21.01 per share, a 46% premium over the prior close. Reported total deal value ranges from roughly $40 billion to $48.7 billion depending on the source.21Kenvue Investors. Kimberly-Clark to Acquire Kenvue Creating a Global Health and Wellness Leader Both companies have told regulators that developments in the Tylenol-autism litigation do not give Kimberly-Clark the right to walk away, and closing is expected in the second half of 2026.12Reuters. US Appeals Court to Weigh Reviving Cases Over Tylenol Autism
Where Things Stand
The Texas case is in early discovery in Panola County after surviving Kenvue’s motion to dismiss. The Second Circuit has not yet ruled on whether to revive the roughly 550 personal injury cases from the federal MDL. The FDA has not finalized any acetaminophen label changes or acted on the pending citizen petition. State-court filings continue. The Kimberly-Clark acquisition remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, with no public sign that the litigation has threatened the deal.