In reality, the American Tort Reform Association, The Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Citizens Against Law suit Abuse are the sophisticated lobbying tool of the National chamber of Commerce, whose members are regulated by the Attorney General’s Office under the laws of West Virginia.  Big tobacco and the insurance and pharmaceutical industries fund bogus studies, which spew misinformation with the intent to influence West Virginia’s political process.

 

           For instance, hearing the name “Citizens Against Law suit Abuse,” (hereafter CALA”), one would believe that this organization consists of citizens of West Virginia simultaneously expressing their will and opinion, exercising their First Amendment right to free speech.  Instead, it is expressly incorporated as a commercial entity, organized for a business purpose.  Donations or names do not have to be revealed, and the corporation does not pay taxes.  Donations may be written off as a business expense.

 

          It is undisputed that Attorney General McGraw’s office has collected more money in restitutions for the citizens of West Virginia than all previous attorneys general combined.  His office’s efforts in the tobacco litigation provided nearly $1.8 billion to the State, helping to balance the State’s budget.  Because of his leadership role in the litigation, West Virginia was awarded nearly 200 million additional dollars beyond the settlement amount.

 

           When the State was facing the threat of doctors fleeing the State because of high malpractice insurance premiums, a physicians’ mutual fund was created to address the problem with funding provided by money obtained by Attorney General McGraw. 

 

           Additionally, hundreds of millions of dollars have been used to pay down the teachers’ retirement debt.  This money was provided through the work of Attorney General McGraw’s office.

           Attorney General McGraw’s office has won several national awards.  In 2004, the office was a top winner in the annual Achievement in Consumer Education Award held by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators.  This office also won an award for best state and local Internet.

 

           In 2002, the office won a national award from the National Product Safety Commission for courageous and active efforts to protect consumers and for outstanding partnership with federal agencies.

 

           Attorney General McGraw’s office was the first Attorney General’s office in the county to sue Purdue Pharma.  It was the first party to receive any recovery from Purdue Pharma, resulting in almost 10 million to West Virginia citizens.  Subsequent to Attorney General McGraw’s recover, officials of Purdue Pharma pled guilty to criminal fraud relating to its illegal marketing practices.  Most of the money has been used to fund day report centers and local community substance abuse programs around West Virginia.  CALA would have you believe that the method of distributing the money is jeopardizing Medicaid funds.

 

            The Center for Medical Services (“CMS”), the Medicaid funding arm of the federal government, waited three years after the recovery before contacting the State of West Virginia, and it was only after the West Virginia Record, which is owned by the National Chamber of Commerce, contacted CMS and raised questions about the Attorney General’s method of distribution of the recovered funds that CMS even questioned West Virginia’s distribution of the settlement money.  We are confident that, in fact, Attorney General McGraw’s actions and method of distributing the funds will allow West Virginians to retain the settlement funds.

 

            Attorney General McGraw has worked with AARP to initiate a program-the first in the country-called Elder Watch, which operates to provide intensive assistance to seniors who call to file complaints with the State’s Consumer Protection Office.  Those individuals receive hands-on assistance in completing the complaints.

 

            The attention given by the Attorney General to the Medicaid Estate Recovery program assures that the estate recovery program in West Virginia is not used abusively.  Since October of 2002, estates valued at $50,000 or less has been exempt.

 

            The Attorney General was successful in defending State laws that preclude out-of-state companies from operating mega dumps in West Virginia.  One company that operated a sewage sludge facility dumping 100,000 tons of New York sewage in Brooke County, West Virginia was shut down.

 

             The Attorney General intervened when the West Virginia Public Service Commission approved the sale of WV-American Water Company to Thames Water Aqua Holdings, a German-based, Fortune Global 500 multinational company.  The Attorney General’s involvement imposed the following conditions on the acquisition:  The water company gave up any property rights in West Virginia’s water resources and forever waived its rights to assert ownership; and the water company is required to contribute 3% of its gross revenues to a fund as a user’s fee that will make improvements to the State’s publicly-owned water systems.  Attorney General McGraw is the only Attorney General to extract a commitment that the water company will not rely on international law or international trade agreements to circumvent state law.

 

             Attorney General McGraw persisted in an anti-trust lawsuit against software giant Microsoft, even after the federal government and most other states settled and critics said the expensive fight would lead to nothing.  Citizens Against Government Waste said the appeal was “unrealistic, imprudent and irrational,” and a news analyst said he would be “shocked” if the appeal led to much of anything.  As a result of Attorney General McGraw’s determination, West Virginia will receive $21 million in cash and value from Microsoft for its anti-competitive practices for consumers and businesses in the State.  If the State had settled sooner, it would have received only attorney fees.

 

             In March 2003, the Attorney General appeared on Dateline NBC and explained his successful strategy for combating fraudulent sales of water treatment systems.  An undercover investigation by the Attorney General and Dateline produced dramatic proof that some dealers were making outrageous claims about the benefits of their systems.  Attorney General McGraw honored a great-grandmother from Morgantown as a “consumer protection hero” for her role as a potential buyer in the undercover investigation.

 

             Attorney General McGraw participated in the landmark settlement with Household Finance Corporation, a mortgage lender that set new standards for the lending industry: Reforming and improving disclosures to consumers and limiting up-front points and origination fees to 5%.  This unprecedented settlement will total $484 million for consumers nationwide, including approximately $1.5 million for 1500 West Virginians.

 

             Suit was filed against six of the world’s largest vitamin manufacturers alleging a price-fixing conspiracy spanning nearly ten years.  Attorney General McGraw distributed $845,000 through a grant process to fund programs to improve health and nutrition in West Virginia.

 

             West Virginia was the first Attorney General’s Office in the country to file a lawsuit against the Pharmaceutical Benefits Manager, which resulted in co-payments being lowered on certain medications and an additional 21 medications being added to the State’s drug formulary.