Tag: West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey

Consumer Protection Officials Visiting Clay and Kanawha

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s flood relief mobile office will visit Clay and Kanawha counties this weekend.

Morrisey says in a news release that the mobile visits will give residents easier access to the state’s Consumer Protection Division.

Consumer representatives will be available to answer questions about things like sham charities, storm-related home repair and cleanup scams, and what to do about price gouging.

In Clay County, the mobile office will be at H.E. White Elementary School on Saturday from 9 to 5 and Sunday from noon to 5.

In Kanawha County, it will be at the junction of Reunion Rd. & North Pinch Rd. from noon to 5 on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Consumer Protection Division can be reaches at 1-800-368-8808 or online at www.wvago.gov.

State Approves Merger of Two Huntington Hospitals

The West Virginia attorney general has approved the merger of two hospitals in Huntington.

Local news outlets report that West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey signed off on the merger of Cabell Huntington Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center on Wednesday.

Morrisey concurred with the West Virginia Health Care Authority’s decision to approve the merger.

The state legislature had passed a law earlier this year exempting the hospital merger from state and federal antitrust laws if the agency approved the merger.

Officials from Cabell Huntington and St. Mary’s applauded the agency’s decision.

GOP Attorney General PAC Spending $208k in West Virginia

A political group backing Republican attorneys general has spent more than $208,000 supporting West Virginia incumbent Patrick Morrisey.

Mountaineers are Always Free PAC reported spending most of the money on TV, radio and online ads since mid-May.

The PAC is funded by the Republican Attorneys General Association. Some of the association’s larger contributors this year include Koch Industries, the Judicial Crisis Network, Reynolds American, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Pfizer, Anthem and Ariel Corporation executives.

Morrisey is seeking a second four-year attorney general term. He faces Democratic state House Del. Doug Reynolds.

Reynolds has put $225,000 of his money into the campaign and has spent $192,200 on TV ads. He has $27,100 remaining.

Morrisey is using $250,000 of his own cash, but has spent little. He has about $668,000 left.

Morrisey Announces Opioid Public Service Announcements

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says a series of public service announcements is aimed at encouraging state consumers to explore alternatives to opioid prescription pills for pain therapy.

Morrisey unveiled the public service announcements Thursday that will appear in print, radio and social media websites. He says the PSAs also will promote a better understanding of the opioid epidemic.

Consumers are being encouraged to ask their doctors why they are being prescribed opioids, whether alternative treatments are available and, if not, whether a lower effective dosage is available.

Morrisey wants to reduce opioid use in West Virginia by 25 percent.

The initiative is a cooperative effort between the attorney general’s office and the West Virginia boards of medicine and osteopathic medicine.

Morrisey to Take Applications for Medication Incinerators

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says law enforcement agencies can soon apply for incinerators for unwanted and expired prescription medication.

Morrisey says in a news release that his office and the attorney general Public Health Trust’s advisory board will review and award grants in August.

He says priority will be given to law enforcement agencies that have received or previously applied for drop boxes where residents can dispose of medications.

The advisory board consists of members of the Department of Health and Human Resources, West Virginia State Medical Association, West Virginia Nurses Association and the state Higher Education Policy Commission.

Morrisey wants to reduce prescription drug use in West Virginia by at least 25 percent. The state leads the nation in the rate of overdose deaths.

Drug Firms Seek Closed Hearing to Explain Pill Shipments

Prescription drug distributors being sued by the state are seeking a closed hearing to explain why they want to keep information about pill shipments secret.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports a Boone County judge on May 6 granted the newspaper’s request to unseal court records about prescription pain pill shipments to West Virginia.

The distributors were given two weeks to appeal that order to the state Supreme Court or settle the lawsuit in order to keep the pill shipment numbers under wraps.

Instead, the distributors filed a motion Wednesday to revise the judge’s decision, requesting a hearing that would be closed to the news media and the public.

The attorney general’s office and other agencies sued the drug distributors, alleging they helped fuel the prescription drug problem in West Virginia.

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