Overview
- Panola County Judge LeAnn Rafferty denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s requests to block Kenvue’s scheduled $398 million dividend and to restrain marketing that describes Tylenol as safe for pregnant women.
- Lawyers for both sides said the judge found she lacked jurisdiction to stop the dividend because Kenvue is based in New Jersey and incorporated in Delaware, though the written order did not detail the rationale.
- Paxton sued Kenvue on Oct. 28 and later added Johnson & Johnson, alleging the companies concealed risks to children from prenatal acetaminophen use and structured a 2023 spinoff to avoid liability.
- Kenvue and J&J continue to defend Tylenol’s safety as many medical societies recommend acetaminophen during pregnancy, while the FDA in September advised clinicians to discuss growing evidence of an association and is weighing label changes.
- The ruling arrives as Kimberly-Clark’s proposed $40 billion acquisition of Kenvue faces uncertainty tied to the litigation and regulatory scrutiny.