Ken Paxton’s Tylenol Lawsuit Is Off To A Terrible Start
from the 0-for-2 dept
Ken Paxton’s bullshit lawsuit against the makers of Tylenol, built on Trump and RFK Jr.’s bullshit press conference in which they pretended that science says acetaminophen causes autism, is off to a predictably bad start. I had a bit of a laugh shortly after this turd was filed, mainly because Kennedy himself came out after the lawsuit was filed to walk back the claims made in the press conference and acknowledged that all that science he and Trump cited “is not sufficient to say it definitely causes autism.” And, while Trump repeatedly instructed women to not take Tylenol while pregnant, a stance medical professionals overwhelmingly disagree with, Kennedy instead said women should consult with their doctors on its use.
Well, it’s early on in this nonsense, but Paxton has already lost on two requests he made as part of it.
A Texas Judge has rejected a request from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to issue a temporary order barring Tylenol’s maker, Kenvue, from claiming amid litigation that the pain and fever medication is safe for pregnant women and children, according to court documents.
In records filed Friday, District Judge LeAnn Rafferty, in Panola County, also rejected Paxton’s unusual request to block Kenvue from distributing $400 million in dividends to shareholders later this month.
Now, it’s important to acknowledge that Paxton is simply doing performative MAGA bullshit with this lawsuit. He’s running for the Senate seat currently held by John Cornyn, who is also seeking reelection. Wesley Hunt joins them to compete in the Republican primary for the seat. All of these men are simply attempting to out-MAGA one another.
The TRO request to keep Kenvue, current makers of the Tylenol brand, from stating that its product is safe for use by pregnant women and children, was always absurd. But it was made all the more so when Kennedy walked back his press conference claims. Judge Rafferty noted that she:
…denied the marketing claim, which even the Trump administration is not standing by. The day after Paxton filed his lawsuit, Kennedy said that “the causative association… between Tylenol given in pregnancy and the perinatal periods is not sufficient to say it definitely causes autism.”
Like I said in my previous post on this: very funny.
As for the dividend disbursement, for which Paxton relies on a Texas law preventing companies giving out such funds if they are about to become financially insolvent, the court simply didn’t have jurisdiction to issue any such order.
According to Reuters, one of Kenvue’s lawyers, Kim Bueno, explained that the problem with the state of Texas making this request is that Kenvue is based in New Jersey and incorporated in Delaware. “There was no jurisdiction to challenge that,” she said.
All this flailing about would be merely unbecoming, except that Paxton is a damned state AG. He should, and likely does, know better than all of this. As I said before, this is performative nonsense designed to do nothing more than gain primary votes in a Senate race.
But in today’s political climate, you can see just how much chaos can be generated by an ignoramus like RFK Jr.
Filed Under: ken paxton, leann rafferty, rfk jr., texas, tylenol
Companies: johnson & johnson, kenvue
Comments on “Ken Paxton’s Tylenol Lawsuit Is Off To A Terrible Start”
Ken Paxton is the biggest goddamn pick-me in the whole MAGA movement. Media Matters disses X? Paxton slaps a performative lawsuit on them. Nepo Wormbrain says Tylenol causes autism? Paxton slaps a performative lawsuit on them. He’s the Chester the Terrier to the bulldogs of the Trump administration.
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He should, and likely does,
noknow better than all of this.Re:
The whole point of being a Retrumpian is that better knowledge has no business governing your words and actions.
I don’t know if you meant to turn that one sentence into an amusing commentary on Paxton’s competency with the “no better than this” typo, but it’s funny either way.
Proofreading?
perhaps “know better”
Mabe sue Paxton personally for defamation?
Seriously, all this republican propaganda is based on nothing but lies. It is causing real harm to the public’s trust in the medicine and the brand. At least the 30% of Americans who support Trump do believe in the crud his regime clowns make wholesale. This means millions of ignorant fools parroting the lie over and over for decades to come.
Re:
That’s probably about as practical as holding a police officer personally liable for assault. Government employees tend to be immune for personal accountability for “official” acts, that term being applied very loosely.
Ken Paxton is the biggest goddamn pick-me in the whole MAGA movement. Media Matters disses X? Paxton slaps a performative lawsuit on them. Nepo Wormbrain says Tylenol causes autism? Paxton slaps a performative lawsuit on them. He’s the Chester the Terrier to the bulldogs of the Trump administration.
Re:
Paxton is like Trump in many ways (except less charismatic). He is (and has always been) dogged by legal and financial troubles that will absolutely 100% ruin him if he isn’t constantly pushed into a higher office where he can use graft and the power of his new position to kick the can down the road. He has to have Trump’s favor, because that’s the only thing saving him from being impeached by Texas Republicans.
Re: Re:
If Paxton’s brain was an empty olympic sized swimming pool his charisma would be the teaspoon of water at the deep end.
Re:
Please, stop insulting dogs.
“I waste taxpayer money” is an interesting choice to use as an example while campaigning.
Re:
This is a good point and I wonder what it will take for Texans to realize just how much money Paxton is wasting on these lawsuits. Or do most Texans not care because they actually appreciate the performative “sticking it to the libs”?
“Instructed” (pregnant people) is a bit of a stretch, no? More like “aimed his turd-cannon in the general direction of some possibly pregnant people and began firing at will”
Sanctions, anyone?
Paxton’s behavior seems to be begging for disciplinary action from The Bar. This is a filing in bad faith.
Re:
A good idea, but not necessarily an effective one: I don’t see anything in the Constitution of Texas that requires the Attorney General to be an actual licensed attorney, or allows for dismissal based on disbarment.
Re: Re: a caution to the others
There may not be anything affecting his office holding.
None the less, sanctions for filing bogus claims may be appropirate if only as a warning to other Texas attorneys that they should be more careful in the future.
Re:
Expecting people who are intimiately familiar with the importance of precedent to set the precedent that they can be punished for wrongdoing is never going to happen.
The Bar exists to limit who is allowed to join the legal industry, not to limit the behavior of those already in it.
Re: Re:
They do occasionally kick people out, when they feel there’s gonna be blow-back that makes them all look bad. Here’s Wikipedia’s list of notable U.S. disbarments, which includes politicians such as Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew, Scooter Libby, Rod Blagojevich, and Rudy Giuliani. Also Laurence Canter, the first e-mail spammer, which is good to see.
Some of these people were disbarred long after the events that led to their disbarment proceedings. But I think there are actually pretty good prospects for Paxton’s disbarment, eventually, even if it doesn’t result in Paxton’s removal as Attorney General.
You know we’ve reached a very high level of bullshit when even RFK said it may be bullshit.
Re:
Yeah, but he should be made to say it as loudly and as often as he made the original claims in the first place, just like newspapers should post retractions on the same part of the same page as the original story, otherwise – just like with feckless journalism – the walkback’s all performative bullshit.
Re: Re: Examples?
I agree that is the way print retractions should ideally work, but in reality most retractions are usually buried to exhibit technical compliance only, rather than actually being posted in the same physical area as the statement being corrected. In fact, I can’t recall a single retraction that has been as you described it.
hope all this trouble gives him a headache!
hope all this legal trouble gives him a headache, and then he takes Tylenol for the pain relief!
Cornyn & Paxton, running for the same seat… literally Dumb & Dumber, but hey, it is Texas after all–each trying to out-compete the other with the bigger pile of BS.
Understating the problem
I think we should be really clear here: most people should take Tylenol, or another brand of acetaminophen/paracetamol—following the instructions on the label—if they encounter pain or fever during pregnancy. A failure to do so will endanger the fetus—in the sense of possibly causing death or birth defects (maybe autism, maybe not—evidence is weak, but the underlying fever in Tylenol-users is a much better suspect than the Tylenol itself).
The Trump contingent are not being “cautious” or speaking to any notable scientific concern; their statements are actively dangerous. Here’s the U.K. government’s refutation of their bullshit.
There’s no general need to pre-consult with a doctor or pharmacist, or really to talk to one at all—unless it’s not working, or the symptoms are bad, or there’s some specific concern such as drug interactions. Of course, people who have access to medical care would benefit from using it upon learning of a pregnancy; but just in general, not in relation to Tylenol use.
Re:
Another, more ironic, way to say that: Paxton’s advice will lead to (spontaneous) abortions.