Tylenol Lawsuit 2026 Update: Appeals Court Reignites Autism Claims
Hundreds of lawsuits claiming Tylenol use during pregnancy is tied to the development of autism or ADHD have been revived.
An appeals court restarted the litigation on Monday, ruling that the judge who had overseen these lawsuits erred when she excluded the testimony of some experts who backed the claims of the people who filed the lawsuits.
The appeals court was explicit that its ruling addresses only whether that expert testimony should have been admitted, not whether acetaminophen actually causes autism or ADHD.
The exclusion of that testimony had largely led to the dismissal of the federal litigation, which at one point had included hundreds of Tylenol lawsuits.
But now, those cases could be returning.
What Comes Next for the Tylenol Autism Lawsuits?
The appeals court’s ruling could lead to the revival of the Tylenol multidistrict litigation (MDL). MDLs are a common legal procedure used when many cases that share similar claims are filed.
An MDL places all of those cases before one judge, allowing them to go through coordinated legal proceedings. This can lead to streamlined, faster results and help spur settlement talks.
More than 600 Tylenol lawsuits had been centralized in the Tylenol MDL before it largely collapsed following the judge’s decision on expert testimony.
Plaintiffs then appealed that ruling, setting off a lengthy process that led to this week’s decision.
The return of the MDL would mean these cases would continue through the litigation process, with lawyers representing people who have filed lawsuits working to advance some of the lawsuits to trial.
But Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, is still weighing its options and could potentially explore legal avenues to stop the litigation from moving forward.
“The procedural ruling today does not change the fact that credible, independent science shows no proven link between taking acetaminophen and autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” the company said in a statement following the decision. “Science matters, and we stand with the many public health and medical professionals who have reviewed the science on this topic and agree.”