Tylenol ADHD lawsuits cannot go forward, judge rules
Tylenol ADHD lawsuits cannot go forward, judge rules
By Brendan Pierson
Aug 20 (Reuters) – Plaintiffs claiming that Kenvue’s (KVUE.N) popular painkiller Tylenol causes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the children of mothers who took it while pregnant have lost a last ditch bid to revive their claims after a judge rejected their last remaining expert witness.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday that the cases against Kenvue and retailers like Walgreens (WBA.O) and Walmart (WMT.N), still remaining in the litigation could not survive without the key expert testimony, and entered judgment against them. The retailers sell store-brand generic versions of the drug.
Cote had previously dismissed about 550 cases centralized before her, which alleged that Tylenol and its generic versions caused ADHD or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). About 58 ADHD cases remained as of Aug. 1.
“The court’s ruling continues to align with the position of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and leading medical organizations that have thoroughly evaluated this — the science does not support causation,” Johnson & Johnson Consumer, the Kenvue subsidiary that sells Tylenol, said in a statement. Kevnue was formerly Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ.N) consumer health division but was spun off last year and is now an independent company.
Ashley Keller, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, declined to comment. Walgreens and Walmart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The multidistrict litigation was centralized before Cote in October 2022. Plaintiffs had begun filing lawsuits earlier that year, claiming retailers had failed to warn pregnant users of acetaminophen, Tylenol’s active ingredient, about neurological risks to the fetus. The plaintiffs named J&J as a defendant later in the litigation.
Reuters
