Texas Seeks Fee Recovery from Johnson & Johnson Over Tylenol Autism Lawsuit

In October, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a consumer-protection suit in Panola County against Johnson & Johnson and its spin-off Kenvue, asserting they failed to warn that Tylenol exposure during pregnancy or early childhood may lead to autism and ADHD and that the 2023 corporate split was a fraudulent transfer. The state also sought a temporary restraining order to require new warnings on Tylenol bottles sold in Texas and to block a $400 million dividend.

Hours before a November hearing, the defendants removed the case to federal court in Tyler, invoking the Grable doctrine, and the district judge denied Texas’s request for fees and sanctions. Representing Texas, attorney Ashley Keller told the Fifth Circuit that the lower court used an improper “frivolousness” test instead of the Supreme Court’s “objective reasonableness” standard and that the petition does not necessarily raise a federal issue.

Johnson & Johnson counsel Geoffrey Wyatt argued the removal was reasonably based on FDA-related labeling questions. The appellate panel has yet to decide whether Texas can recover its legal costs.