National Association of Attorneys General
The National Association of Attorneys General, on behalf of a bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general, sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to pass an act prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or operating pharmacies. By owning affiliated pharmacies, PBMs exert influence over their competitors, using their intermediary role to impose conditions that disadvantage independent pharmacies. This often forces these small businesses to accept complex, unjust, arbitrary, and detrimental contractual agreements. The letter further emphasized the need for legislative action. The passage of such a law would foster competition in the marketplace and give consumers more access to pharmaceutical care, more choice as to their healthcare providers, and more affordable prices. The attorneys general of Arkansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Vermont led the effort.
Multistate Actions
Illegal Chinese vapes that often appeal to children were the target of a multistate letter from 27 attorneys general led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird. The letter urged the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, and Customs and Border Protection to take action. The illicit e-cigarettes often feature colorful packaging, sweet flavors, and video-game themes while emitting higher levels of addictive nicotine and never receiving approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The coalition’s letter asked the federal administrative agencies to support the efforts of the federal multi-agency task force, prosecute identified offenders, and prioritize Homeland Security enforcement.
Led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a twenty-three-member coalition of attorneys general wrote a letter to House leaders objecting to a resolution overturning restrictions on high overdraft fees. The letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and the House Financial Services Committee supported opposition to a resolution overturning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2024 rule limiting overdraft fees imposed by national banks. The rule, 89 Fed. Reg. 106768, treats the bank’s extension of credit to pay a charge for which there is insufficient funds in a customer’s account as a loan under the Truth in Lending Act. The following day, the House narrowly voted in favor of the resolution (H.J.Res. 59) to overturn the limit, less than two weeks after the Senate passed its version of the resolution (S.J.Res 18). The bicameral disapproval of a rule under the Congressional Review Act has the effect of overturning a rule or preventing a rule from taking effect if it had not gone into effect.
A bipartisan eighteen-state coalition of attorneys general announced victory in the case against Google for monopolies in digital advertising, stifling competition and harming website publishers, advertisers, and consumers led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Eastern District of Virginia Court found Google liable for violating antitrust law by acquiring and maintaining monopolies in the publisher, ad server, and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising. The judge also found Google liable for unlawfully tying together its publisher advertising server and its advertising exchange and that Google harmed competition, its own customers, and Internet users by imposing anticompetitive policies that reduced quality and increased prices.
The Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force sent warning letters to nine companies that their actions may violate state and federal consumer protection laws. The task force was established in 2022 and is led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. It is made up of a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general and investigates and takes legal action against companies responsible for significant volumes of illegal and fraudulent robocall traffic routed into and across the United States. Lingo, NGL, Range, RSCom, Telecast, ThinQ, Voxox, and All Access each received second and final warning letters, while Global Net Holdings, was sent its first notice letter.
A bipartisan coalition of seven states has formed a Consortium of Privacy Regulators through a formal collaboration agreement between the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, New Jersey, Oregon, California and the California Privacy Protection Agency. The Consortium, announced in mid-April, will promote collaboration and information sharing in the bipartisan effort to safeguard the privacy rights of consumers. The group regularly discusses developments in privacy law, shared priorities, and coordinates enforcement where appropriate.
A sixteen-state bipartisan coalition of attorneys general announced a settlement in principle with opioid manufacturer Mylan Inc. Mylan, which is now a part of Viatris, has manufactured and sold a variety of opioids since 2005, including generic fentanyl patches, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and buprenorphine products. The attorneys general allege Mylan deceptively promoted its products as less prone to abuse despite knowing for years that many of its opioid products – particularly its fentanyl patches – were more vulnerable to abuse. The settlement will provide $335 million to the affected states to combat the opioid epidemic.
A bipartisan coalition of 47 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of Vermont’s right to exercise personal jurisdiction over out-of-state actors such as Meta. The states’ brief argues that when out-of-state businesses “purposefully derive benefit” from activities within a state, they should be accountable for the proximate consequences of those injuries inside of that state.
Individual Attorney General Actions
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sued TikTok alleging that its algorithm is engineered to keep minors endlessly scrolling content that is often harmful. The lawsuit, filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court, alleges that TikTok, Inc., and its parent company, ByteDance, Inc., exploit children, addict them to harmful content, and lie about the platform’s safety.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced the formation of a Financial Fraud Task Force, led by the Public Protection Division. The Task Force, including the Arkansas Bankers Association, the Arkansas Credit Union Association, and other stakeholders working in banking and finance, will meet quarterly to share information and intelligence to fight and prevent financial fraud committed against Arkansans.
California Attorney General Bonta announced a settlement with California-based HomeOptions over allegations that it engaged in a predatory scheme impacting over 500 California homeowners. Bonta’s complaint alleged that the company lured financially vulnerable homeowners with an immediate payment of a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars in exchange for the exclusive right to be the homeowner’s real estate listing agent for the next 20 years, entered into unlawful contracts with those homeowners, deceptively recorded liens against the homeowners’ homes, and forced homeowners to pay tens of thousands of dollars in illegal fees to remove those liens so that they could transfer title or obtain home loans. HomeOptions allegedly misrepresented the nature of its agreements, included unlawful breach and early termination penalty terms in its contracts, and violated California’s Real Estate Law, state and federal telemarketing laws, and federal lending laws. As part of the stipulated judgment, HomeOptions has agreed to terminate all liens and contracts in California, pay over $570,000 in restitution and civil penalties.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced a settlement with HomeOptions resolving allegations that the company locked homeowners into onerous agreements that violated state consumer protection laws, often containing decades-long terms and leaving future homeowners on the hook. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will release all 171 homeowners with existing contracts from their agreements and will no longer have any remaining claims on any property owned by Colorado consumers.
