The pain reliever Tylenol is a classic American brand, with tens of millions of users and a 70-year history. The company behind it, Kenvue, is just two years old and unknown to most Americans.
The Trump administration is expected on Monday to link Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism, a connection that remains unproven. That has put Kenvue in the spotlight, faced with a growing public relations nightmare for a product that has weathered crises before. Most notably, in the 1980s, Tylenol became the textbook example of how to manage a corporate crisis, after product tampering killed seven people and triggered a nationwide panic.
Johnson & Johnson survived the traumatic episode, rescuing a product it had manufactured for decades. But in 2023, looking toward its more profitable medical businesses, the company spun off Tylenol and other consumer brands into a new business, Kenvue. Based in Summit, N.J., Kenvue also makes other nostalgic and well-known brands, like Band-Aid, Listerine, Neutrogena and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo.
Renewed public attention on Tylenol began early this month, when The Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration’s plans to release a report tying Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism. The company’s stock has plummeted by 16 percent since then, and was down by 6 percent on Monday.
Melissa Witt, a spokeswoman for Kenvue, said in a statement on Monday that “we believe independent, sound, science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism.” She added, “We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers.”
Researchers have studied a potential connection for years, but so far the studies have not shown that Tylenol use among pregnant women causes autism.
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The post The Company Behind Tylenol Tries to Navigate Its Latest Crisis appeared first on New York Times.
