Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday accused the companies behind Tylenol of deceptively marketing the pain reliever to pregnant mothers in a lawsuit that asserted unproven claims that early exposure to acetaminophen increased risk of autism and other disorders. Paxton, an ally of President Donald Trump and a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, announced the suit against Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue weeks after Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserted an unproven link between the pain reliever and autism while announcing a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder. The suit alleges that the companies violated Texas consumer protection laws by hiding the danger that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, posed to fetuses and young children and “deceptively marketed Tylenol as the only safe painkiller for pregnant women.” It also alleges that Johnson & Johnson fraudulently transferred liabilities arising from Tylenol to Kenvue to shield assets against lawsuits. In 2021, New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J announced that it would turn its consumer health business, which makes Tylenol and other products, into a separate company now known as Kenvue. It referenced that divestment in a statement Tuesday, saying “all rights and liabilities associated with the sale of its over-the-counter products, including Tylenol (acetaminophen), are owned by Kenvue." “Big Pharma betrayed America by profiting off of pain and pushing pills regardless of the risks. These corporations lied for decades, knowingly endangering millions to line their pockets,” Paxton said in a statement. “Additionally, seeing that the day of reckoning was coming, Johnson & Johnson attempted to escape responsibility by illegally offloading their liability onto a different company.” Acetaminophen has long been one of the most popular pain relievers and fever reducers in the U.S., used by upward of 100 million Americans annually. Some studies have raised the possibility that taking Tylenol in pregnancy might be associated with a risk of autism — but many others haven’t found a connection. Kenvue stressed in a statement Tuesday that acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women, noting that high fevers and pain are recognized as potential risks to pregnancies if left untreated. The Summit, New Jersey-based company said it would defend itself against the claims and expressed concern about the “perpetuation of misinformation” about acetaminophen's safety and the potential impact on the health of women and children. “We stand firmly with the global medical community that acknowledges the safety of acetaminophen and believe we will continue to be successful in litigation as these claims lack legal merit and scientific support,” Kenvue said. Kenvue has said it faces litigation in federal court over the autism claims, noting earlier this year in an annual filing that many of those claims have been dismissed but are being appealed. The lawsuit filed in state court in rural Panola County asks for a jury trial in the Republican-leaning county of about 23,000 in East Texas. Texas is asking the court to order the companies to pay the state $10,000 for each Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act violation. It also asks the court to order the companies to destroy marketing materials that represent that Tylenol is safe for pregnant women and children or doesn’t cause autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children whose mothers take Tylenol during pregnancy or in young children who take the drug.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — The NCAA owes a former college football player and his wife $18 million, a South Carolina jury decided while finding college sports’ major governing body negligent in failing to warn the player about the long-term effects of concussions. Following a civil trial that wrapped up late last week, Orangeburg County jurors awarded $10 million to 68-year-old Robert Geathers, who played at South Carolina State University from 1977 to 1980 as a defensive end. His wife, Debra, was awarded $8 million, according to a court document. A physician diagnosed Robert Geathers with dementia several years ago, The Times and Democrat newspaper in Orangeburg reported. Now he has trouble with day-to-day tasks such as dressing himself and helping making meals. Other physicians who testified at the trial said Geathers displays symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in former football players who received repeated blows to their heads while playing. CTE can be diagnosed only posthumously. The couple’s attorneys argued to jurors that blows Geathers took during practices and games for the historically Black school in Orangeburg caused trauma that didn’t show up until decades later, the newspaper reported. Geathers attorney Bakari Sellers said the NCAA knew about concussion risks since the 1930s, and when Geathers’ college career ended, but didn’t tell coaches or players about those risks until later. “All of the information they knew, they withheld,” Sellers told jurors, adding that “their job was to keep the boys safe." The verdict can be appealed. In a statement released through a spokesperson, the NCAA said Saturday that it disagreed with the verdict and that it was "prepared to pursue our rights on post-trial motions and on appeal, if necessary.” “The NCAA has prevailed in every other jury trial around the country on these issues," and the South Carolina State team standards “followed the knowledge that existed at the time, and college football did not cause Mr. Geathers’ lifelong health problems," the statement said. NCAA trial attorney Andy Fletcher said at the trial that Geathers has several health conditions that influence dementia-like symptoms, and that the NCAA’s football rules committee is composed of representatives of member schools that could propose rules. “There’s going to be head-hits. That’s inherent to the game. You can’t take head-hits out of football,” Fletcher said in closing arguments. According to the newspaper, the jury determined the NCAA “unreasonably increased the risk of harm of head impacts to Robert Geathers over and above the risks inherent to playing football.” And it also determined the NCAA “voluntarily assumed duties to protect the health and safety of Robert Geathers” and that the NCAA “negligently breached their duties” to him. After the trial, Sellers said the result provided justice: “I felt good to hug Debra Geathers. She gets to go home and tell her husband some good news.”

A man who says he was detained by police for following an Ohio National Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader's theme song from “Star Wars” on his phone sued the District of Columbia on Thursday, claiming the officers violated his constitutional rights. Sam O'Hara's federal lawsuit says the ominous orchestral music of “The Imperial March” is the soundtrack for his peaceful protests against President Donald Trump's deployment of Guard members in Washington, D.C. Millions of TikTok users have viewed O'Hara's videos of his interactions with troops, according to the suit, filed by American Civil Liberties Union attorneys. O’Hara, a 35-year-old Washington resident, says he didn’t interfere with the Ohio National Guard troops during their Sept. 11 encounter on a public street. One of the troops summoned Metropolitan Police Department officers, who stopped O'Hara and kept him handcuffed for 15 to 20 minutes before releasing him without charges, according to the lawsuit. “The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But in the here and now, the First Amendment bars government officials from shutting down peaceful protests,” his lawsuit says. O'Hara also sued four MPD officers and the Guard member who called them to the scene. The suit accuses them of violating his First Amendment rights to free speech and his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizures and excessive force. O'Hara is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Spokespeople for Mayor Muriel Bowser's office and the police department declined to comment on the suit's claims. The MPD spokesperson said the four officers named as defendants all remain on full duty. A spokesperson for the Ohio National Guard didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. In August, Trump, a Republican, issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington. Within a month, more than 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling the city under the command of the secretary of the Army. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist in patrols. Trump's law enforcement surge has inflamed tensions with residents of the heavily Democratic district. District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb has sued Trump to end it. O'Hara's lawsuit says he became “deeply concerned about the normalization of troops patrolling D.C. neighborhoods.” “To many District residents, the deployment constituted an attack on D.C.’s autonomy and a dangerous departure from the Nation’s tradition of barring troops from policing civilians,” the suit says. O'Hara had staged and recorded other “Star Wars”-themed protests against Guard deployments. The troops mostly ignored him, the suit says. On Sept. 11, O'Hara was returning home from work when he began following four armed Guard members from Ohio. Less than two minutes later, one of the troops warned him that he would summon police officers to “handle” him if he kept following them, according to the suit. The police officers who arrived minutes later accused O'Hara of harassing the troops, which he denied. They detained him without conducting any investigation and ignored his complaints that the handcuffs were too tight, the suit alleges. “Mr. O’Hara brings this suit to ensure accountability, secure compensation for his injuries, and vindicate core constitutional guarantees,” the suit says. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was nominated to the bench by Trump.