2019 Press Releases

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• 12/13/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG AND DSS COMMISSIONER GIFFORD ANNOUNCE COURT DECISION REQUIRING FAIRFIELD DENTIST TO PAY $1.7 MILLION FOR VIOLATING STATE'S FALSE CLAIMS ACT

  Attorney General William Tong and state Department of Social Services Commissioner Deidre S. Gifford today announced a Superior Court decision requiring Dr. Aram Agadjanian, also known as Aram Yuri Agadzanov, to pay more than $1.7 million for engaging in a long-term, pervasive scheme to defraud the state's Medicaid program.

• 3/1/2019 CONSUMERS ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION WEEK

  National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) is held each year in the first full week of March (this year, March 3 – 9). The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), the Office of the Attorney General, and Better Business Bureau Serving Connecticut are encouraging consumers to participate.

• 8/29/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG DENOUNCES TRUMP PLAN TO ROLLBACK METHANE REGULATIONS

  Attorney General William Tong today issued the following statement denouncing the latest Trump Administration plan to rollback regulation of methane emissions, one of the leading contributors to climate change.

• 10/4/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION WARN AGAINST LATEST SCAM TARGETING EVERSOURCE CUSTOMERS

  Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull today warned Eversource consumers of a new scam.

• 9/24/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN URGING CONGRESSIONAL ACTION TO CLOSE AMMUNITION SALE LOOPHOLE

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in sending a letter today to Congressional leaders urging their support of legislation that would extend existing background check requirements on firearm sales to also include ammunition sales.

• 2/28/2019 AG TONG, CONSUMER COUNSEL SUPPORT $1.5 MILLION FINE, PENALTIES FOR DIRECT ENERGY ELECTRIC SUPPLIER

  Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz today strongly supported a proposed decision by the Public Utilities Regulatory Counsel to fine third-party electric supplier Direct Energy $1.5 million for multiple sales and marketing practices in violation of Connecticut statutes.

• 12/6/2019 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI IN TWEED-NEW HAVEN AIRPORT CASE

  The Office of the Attorney General today filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court to review the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority v. Tong.

• 12/4/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION FIGHTING TO ENSURE WOMEN ACROSS THE NATION RETAIN ACCESS TO SAFE, LEGAL ABORTIONS

  Attorney General William Tong today announced he has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general fighting to ensure women across the nation are able to maintain access to safe, legal abortions.

• 5/12/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG LEADS 44-STATE COALITION IN ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS, 19 OTHER GENERIC DRUG MANUFACTURERS, 15 INDIVIDUALS IN CONSPIRACY TO FIX PRICES AND ALLOCATE MARKETS FOR MORE THAN 100 DIFFERENT GENERIC DRUGS

  Attorney General William Tong led a 44-state coalition in announcing a lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation's largest generic drug manufacturers alleging a broad conspiracy to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition and unreasonably restrain trade for more than 100 different generic drugs.

• 6/4/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG: LONG ISLAND SOUND DREDGING CHALLENGE LACKS MERIT

  (Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong has filed a memorandum of law in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York describing the exhaustive administrative record, economic need, and environmental safeguards that clearly support the lawful selection of the Eastern Long Island Sound Disposal Site for dredged materials.

• 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.

• 1/17/2019 New Haven Behavioral Health Provider Agrees to Settlement, Suspension to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

  A former New Haven behavioral health clinician group and its owner have agreed to pay $100,000 and will be suspended from participating in Connecticut's Medicaid program for ten years for allegedly engaging in a systematic and long-term pattern of submitting false claims to the program, Attorney General William Tong and state Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Roderick L. Bremby said today.

• 8/7/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS BIPARTISAN COALITION OF 43 ATTORNEYS GENERAL URGING VIDEO STREAMING INDUSTRY TO PROTECT YOUNG VIEWERS FROM TOBACCO

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a bipartisan coalition of 43 attorneys general, co-led by Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, in urging the streaming industry to limit tobacco use in their video content. Due to the growing use of tobacco products amongst teens, the attorneys general urge the streaming industry to take proactive steps to protect the lives of young viewers. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of middle and high school students using e-cigarettes rose from 2.1 million in 2017 to 3.6 million in 2018.

• 11/27/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF WAYZARO WALTON

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement today after Wayzaro Walton was released from federal detention.

• 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.