Aug 20 (Reuters) - Plaintiffs claiming that Kenvue's ( KVUE )

popular painkiller Tylenol causes attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the children of mothers who

took it while pregnant have lost a last ditch bid to revive

their claims after a judge rejected their last remaining expert

witness.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan ruled on

Tuesday that the cases against Kenvue ( KVUE ) and retailers like

Walgreens and Walmart ( WMT ) still remaining in the

litigation could not survive without the key expert testimony,

and entered judgment against them. The retailers sell

store-brand generic versions of the drug.

Cote had previously dismissed about 550 cases centralized

before her, which alleged that Tylenol and its generic versions

caused ADHD or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). About 58 ADHD

cases remained as of Aug. 1.

"The court's ruling continues to align with the position of

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and leading medical

organizations that have thoroughly evaluated this - the science

does not support causation," Johnson & Johnson Consumer, the

Kenvue ( KVUE ) subsidiary that sells Tylenol, said in a statement.

Kevnue was formerly Johnson & Johnson's ( JNJ ) consumer health

division but was spun off last year and is now an independent

company.

Ashley Keller, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, declined to

comment. Walgreens and Walmart ( WMT ) did not immediately respond to

requests for comment.

The multidistrict litigation was centralized before Cote in

October 2022. Plaintiffs had begun filing lawsuits earlier that

year, claiming retailers had failed to warn pregnant users of

acetaminophen, Tylenol's active ingredient, about neurological

risks to the fetus. The plaintiffs named J&J as a defendant

later in the litigation.

Last December, Cote ruled that none of the five expert

witnesses offered by the plaintiffs to testify that

acetaminophen could cause ADHD and ASD had used a sound

scientific methodology and could not testify at trial. She said

that the experts "unstructured approach" allowed

"cherry-picking" and a "results-driven analysis."

She went on to enter judgment against the roughly 550 cases

pending at the time of that order, which is now being appealed.

However, plaintiffs continued to file new lawsuits and

offered a new expert to testify that acetaminophen could cause

ADHD, though they no longer sought to prove a link to ASD. Last

month, Cote rejected that expert as well, and ordered the

plaintiffs to show cause why the remaining cases should not be

dismissed.

Plaintiffs' lawyers argued that they could support their

case with statements from one of the defense experts, ADHD

researcher Stephen Faraone, acknowledging that some studies

showed an association between acetaminophen and ADHD

Cote, however, said the plaintiffs "seize on fragments from

Dr. Faraone's extensive writings and prior statements and

misleadingly portray those fragments." She said Faraone's own

analysis showed that there was no strong evidence for causation.

The case is In re: Acetaminophen ASD/ADHD Products Liability

Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New

York, 1:22-md-03043.

For plaintiffs: Ashley Keller of Keller Postman; Daniel

Burke of Bernstein Liebhard; and Lindsey Scarcello of Wagstaff &

Cartmell

For Walgreens: Kristen Richer of Barnes & Thornburg

For Walmart ( WMT ): Kristen Fournier of King & Spalding

For Kenvue ( KVUE ): Jessica Davidson of Skadden, Arps, Slate,

Meagher & Flom

Read more:

Lawsuits claiming Tylenol causes autism lack scientific

support, judge finds

Mass tort launched for claims that acetaminophen caused

autism, ADHD

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York)