Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a press conference at the White House that they have determined the cause of autism — Tylenol.
Today’s announcement about the pain reliever, whose active ingredient is acetaminophen, relies on similar, debunked research used by well-known plaintiffs’ experts that has been tossed by the courts already.
“The link RFK is establishing today is designed to legitimize what courts have already rejected,” said Tiger Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association. “What’s changed is that personal injury lawyers have an ally in the HHS Secretary.”
Next month, there is an appeal scheduled for multi-district litigation attempting to tie Tylenol use to autism. In December 2023, Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York stated that the plaintiffs’ experts in a multidistrict litigation, In re: Acetaminophen — ASD-ADHD Products Liability Litigation, “failed to show that their methodology…is generally accepted by the scientific community.”
The lead plaintiffs’ attorney in the MDL, Ashley Keller, is among the trial lawyers pleased to have a plaintiff- and litigation-friendly ally in the Trump administration.
ATRA has repeatedly flagged that RFK Jr.’s deep ties to the trial bar are likely to guide his leadership and policymaking. Tylenol largely is regarded as safe for use during pregnancy by the global scientific community and is just the latest target for the head of HHS.
“We expect our leaders to advocate for health based on sound science,” Joyce said. “What we’re hearing today is nothing more than RFK rewarding the people who earned him a living before he was HHS Secretary — personal injury lawyers who had limited success advancing their made-for-litigation junk science in the courtroom.”
Independent, scientific data shows no proven link between taking acetaminophen and autism. Groups including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Autism Science Foundation, and even the FDA, continue to say that the product is safe.
Moreover, this focus on Tylenol as a potential cause for autism is likely to have adverse impacts on public health as unfounded fearmongering will likely lead to fear among pregnant individuals.
ATRA remains committed to monitoring the intersection of civil litigation and public health as RFK Jr. continues to parrot the trial bar’s talking points and junk science theories as “gold standard science.”