President Donald Trump Claims Tylenol Causes Autism — Can Tylenol Sue the Federal Government?

One condition in the United States that the head of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), has been focused on is autism. He has repeatedly claimed there is a link between autism and vaccines and promised to "involve hundreds of scientists from around the world" in an effort to research this theory, reports the BBC.

During a cabinet meeting in April 2025, RFK Jr. made a shocking declaration to the president and the American people. "By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures," he said. On Sept. 22, 2025, RFK Jr. and President Donald Trump announced in a press conference that there is a link between women taking Tylenol while pregnant and autism diagnoses. Can Tylenol's parent company sue Trump and the federal government? Here's what we know.

As with all things involving large corporations and the federal government, the answer to a question about lawsuits is complicated. Tylenol is the brand name owned by Kenvue, a spinoff of Johnson & Johnson. If a lawsuit is possible, Kenvue would be the plaintiff. According to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), the federal government is protected from being sued without its consent under the sovereign immunity principle. Essentially, that translates to you cannot sue the king.

The language in the FTCA applies to individuals, not entities, so this next part might not be applicable. If an individual can prove negligence, they can sue the federal government. They must prove they were injured or damaged by a federal government employee (in this case, President Trump), the employee was acting within the scope of their official duties, the employee was acting negligently or wrongfully, and these actions caused injury or damages.

According to The New York Times, Melissa Witt, a spokesperson for Kenvue, said in a statement, "We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism." Acetaminophen is the generic name for the drug Tylenol. Witt continued, "We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers and parents."

So, where did the alleged link between Tylenol and autism come from? Back in 2022, parents of children with autism and ADHD sued the makers of Tylenol and generic acetaminophen, claiming they failed to "sufficiently warn about an increased risk of the conditions if the medication is taken during pregnancy," per Axios. They brought in experts from Harvard and the University of Southern California who presented a "causal link" between ADHD, autism, and Tylenol.

In 2023, a federal judge ruled that while these experts were certainly qualified to provide opinions on the matter, the evidence was inconclusive. "None of the plaintiffs' experts, however, has published research that expresses the ultimate opinions they offer here," wrote Denise Cote, a U.S. district judge in the Southern District of New York. There simply isn't strong scientific evidence linking Tylenol to autism or ADHD.