Tylenol is a well-known pain reliever. It isn’t particularly strong — it’s effectiveness is probably one step above spit, but it is better than nothing when you’re dealing with pregnancy cramps or a fever. Unfortunately, the party that brought you bleach and horse de-wormer as COVID cures is still in power and they’ve set their sights on acetaminophen. And despite Trump’s difficulty pronouncing it, he went all in on establishing a causal link between using Tylenol while pregnant and giving birth to a child with autism. And as dumb as that was — it was very dumb, by the way — if you thought Trump had a problem pronouncing acetaminophen, imagine if he had to get on a podium and talk about things that actual scientists think can contribute to autism like the genes AVPR1a, DISC1, DYX1C1, ITGB3, SLC6A4, RELN, RPL10, or SHANK3!
As much as it activates the schadenfreude to think that Trump was foolish enough to make the Tylenol/autism connection with his full chest as eloquently as he did (“it can only good happen,” etc.), he isn’t the only one who has been fighting to make the same connection. Back in 2023, a judge rejected claims that Tylenol caused autism and ADHD due to plaintiffs lacking admissible evidence. But after Trump’s monologue, plaintiffs want a second bite at the pill. Reuters has coverage:
Families appealing the dismissal of their lawsuits alleging that Kenvue’s Tylenol or generic versions of the pain-relief medication caused their children’s autism are asking an appeals court to consider President Donald Trump’s new advice that pregnant women avoid the pain killer as it decides whether to revive their lawsuits.
…
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan last year dismissed more than 500 lawsuits against Kenvue and retailers that sold store-brand acetaminophen, which alleged that the drugs caused autism spectrum disorder, or ADHD. Cote had ruled the previous year that none of the expert witnesses offered by the plaintiffs to testify at trial that acetaminophen could cause the conditions had used a sound scientific methodology. She said the experts’ “unstructured approach” allowed “cherry-picking” and a “results-driven analysis.”
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Funny, that assessment of the experts would apply just as well to Wormbrain firing every member of the CDC vaccine advisory panel just because of little things like “the rest of the scientific world’s overwhelming consensus on the data.”
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Ashley Keller, is pushing to require a jury to hear from the same experts that the Executive used in their findings, going so far as to say that not doing so would pose separation of powers issues.
Oral argument should start on the 6th of October. Pray for anyone who has to sit through an “expert” bumbling through whatever half-cocked reasoning they use to establish the causal connection. I need a Tylenol just thinking about it.
Attorneys Urge Court Overseeing Tylenol Autism Lawsuits To Consider Trump Administration’s Stance [Reuters]
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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.