2019 Press Releases

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• 6/26/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ANNOUNCES $1.5 MILLION FALSE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT WITH CLINICAL SCIENCE LABORATORY, INC.

  (Hartford, CT) – Connecticut Attorney General William Tong today announced a $1.5 million settlement with Clinical Science Laboratory, Inc. (CSL) and its owners Stanley Elfbaum and Louis Amoruso resolving False Claims Act violations related to over billing for urine drug tests.

• 6/25/2019 TONG OPPOSES CHANGES TO CALCULATION OF FEDERAL POVERTY THRESHOLD

  Attorney General William Tong today announced Connecticut has joined a multistate coalition of 21 attorneys general, led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and New York Attorney General Letitia James, in submitting a comment letter to the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), opposing a proposal to change the way the federal poverty threshold is calculated. According to the attorneys general, the proposed adjustment could result in millions of Americans becoming ineligible for, or entitled to less, government-funded benefits.

• 6/25/2019 AG TONG SECURES TEMPORARY INJUNCTION AGAINST UNAUTHORIZED WASHINGTON DUMP

• 6/24/2019 DRUG PRICE-FIXING COMPLAINT UNSEALED

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong today released the full, unredacted complaint against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation's largest generic drug manufacturers after the court granted the states' motion to unseal the complaint.

• 6/21/2019 THOUSANDS OF CONSUMERS TO RECEIVE ELECTRIC REFUND CHECKS FOLLOWING THIRD-PARTY SUPPLIER RATE NOTICE ERROR

  Attorney General William Tong announced that thousands of Connecticut consumers will receive refund checks from third-party electric suppliers following systematic rate notice errors dating back to 2016.

• 6/21/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ANNOUNCES $2.5 MILLION TO BE PAID TO CANCER CENTERS AFTER LANDMARK LAWSUIT AGAINST SHAM CANCER CHARITIES

  Attorney General William Tong announced that $2.5 million will be distributed to cancer centers across the country as a result of a multistate enforcement action against sham cancer charities.

• 6/19/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER REPEAL OF CLEAN POWER PLAN

  Attorney General William Tong announced today his intent to sue the Trump Administration to block the unlawful repeal of the Clean Power Plan.

• 6/18/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ASKS CONGRESS TO TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT INTEGRITY OF AMERICA’S ELECTIONS

  (Hartford, CT) — In expressing his “significant concern regarding the persistent threats to our election systems,” Attorney General Tong today joined a total 22 attorneys general from around the country to ask Congress to take action to protect the integrity of America’s elections.

• 6/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG SHOWS POTENTIAL FOR GRAVE HARM TO CONNECTICUT, JOINS STATES IN SEEKING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO STOP HEALTH CARE DISCRIMINATION

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 23 cities, states, and municipalities, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a motion filed today to seek a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from adopting a Final Rule that would expand the ability of businesses and individuals to refuse to provide necessary health care on the basis of businesses' or employees’ “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” The motion is supported by declarations from 48 leading public health professionals from states across the country. The same coalition of 23 cities and states, filed a lawsuit against HHS in May 2019 to challenge this discriminatory rule.

• 6/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 43 STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN ANNOUNCING $168 MILLION IN DEBT RELIEF FOR 22,000 FORMER ITT TECH STUDENTS

  Attorney General William Tong joined 43 state attorneys general in announcing an agreement to obtain $168 million in debt relief for 18,664 former ITT students nationwide. Two Connecticut students are covered in the settlement and will receive a combined $31,757.70 in debt relief.

• 6/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG AND CONSUMER COUNSEL KATZ URGE UI CUSTOMERS TO CHECK BILLS FOLLOWING RATE NOTICE ERROR

  (Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Counsel Elin Katz urged United Illuminating customers to check their bills following an error by UI informing consumers of an inaccurate standard service rate beginning July 1. As a result of the inaccurate rates posted by UI on the Energize CT website, some consumers may have switched to a third-party electric supplier on the incorrect understanding that switching would save them money.

• 6/12/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS AMICUS BRIEF OPPOSING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY STAY OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION IN SIERRA CLUB V. TRUMP

  Attorney General William Tong, as part of a 20 state coalition, filed an amicus brief before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Sierra Club, et al. v. Trump, et al., a case challenging President Trump’s unlawful diversion of funds toward construction of a border wall. The ACLU represents the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition in the lawsuit. The brief urges the court to deny the federal government’s emergency motion for a stay of the preliminary injunction granted by the district court in Sierra Club’s case, blocking President Trump from commencing border wall construction in New Mexico and Arizona with funds that were unlawfully diverted. The federal government has now appealed that ruling.

• 6/11/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTI-STATE COALITION TO BLOCK T-MOBILE AND SPRINT MEGAMERGER

  (Hartford, CT) – Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined 9 states today in filing a multi-state lawsuit to halt the proposed merger of telecom giants T-Mobile and Sprint. The complaint, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, was filed in New York federal court in coordination with Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C., alleges that the merger of two of the four largest national mobile network operators would deprive consumers of the benefits of competition and drive up prices for cellphone services.

• 6/7/2019 CONNECTICUT AND ILLINOIS OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO QUEST DIAGNOSTICS, LABCORP DATA BREACH

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced today they have opened an investigation into the data breach at American Medical Collection Agency, which may have exposed the personal information of nearly 12 million patients of Quest Diagnostics and 7.7 million Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) patients.

• 6/6/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, 44-STATE COALITION MOVE TO UNSEAL GENERIC DRUG PRICE FIXING COMPLAINT

  (Hartford, CT) – Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and 43 other state attorneys general moved today to unseal their complaint against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation's largest generic drug manufacturers. The complaint, filed on May 10 in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleges a broad conspiracy to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition and unreasonably restrain trade for more than 100 different drugs.