SEATTLE -Attorney General Christine Gregoire today accused Bristol-Myers, Squibb Co. -- manufacturer of the cancer drug Taxol -- of abusing federal patent law in order to keep a cheaper, generic competitor off the market.

Olympia - The U.S. Supreme Court today announced that it will not review a Washington Supreme Court decision upholding Washington's Business and Occupation (B&0) tax on manufacturing and sales activities inside and outside of Washington.

The high court's decision to deny certiorari in two related B&O-tax cases means that the decision in those cases last April by the Washington Supreme Court will stand. The case involved hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax refunds to the plaintiffs.

SEATTLE -- Senior citizens in the Auburn area of King County should be on the lookout for a fraudulent vacuum cleaner salesman who goes door to door offering either free cans of soup or a canned ham in exchange for a vacuum cleaner demonstration.

Olympia –  Settlement of federal criminal conspiracy charges against a national pharmaceutical company over its drug-marketing practices will lead to the return of about $790,000 to the state’s Medicaid fund, Attorney General Christine Gregoire said today.

The settlement with TAP Pharmaceutical Products, Inc. of Chicago, Ill., will require the company to reimburse Medicaid programs in all 50 states a total of $56.7 million. In addition, the company will be required to return $524 million to the federal government, and pay a substantial criminal fine.

OLYMPIA - Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced a multi-state settlement that requires one of the country's largest sweepstakes companies to pay restitution to Washington consumers and dramatically change its sweepstakes marketing practices nationwide.

United States Sales Corp. of Northridge, Calif., which does business as United States Purchasing Exchange (USPE), reached the agreement with Gregoire and the attorneys general of 47 other states and the District of Columbia.

Seattle - The Attorney General’s Office today urged consumers to consider carefully whether to accept or opt out of a proposed settlement for a private class action lawsuit with Publishers Clearinghouse (PCH). Consumers who do not opt out are automatically covered by the terms of the settlement.   

"What’s being mailed out appears very confusing," said Assistant Attorney General Regina Cullen. "It uses a lot of big legal words and very small print."

SEATTLE - Attorney General Rob McKenna today announced a multi-state settlement with a California-based marketer of Internet directory listings. Yellow Pages, Inc., will pay $525,000 to resolve allegations of deceptive marketing practices brought by Washington and 26 other states.

PIERCE COUNTY – A Pierce County woman today pled guilty to two counts of identity theft in the first degree, one count of theft in the first degree and six counts of theft in the second degree. The case was filed in Pierce County Superior Court by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in August 2005.

Washington helped lead multi-state investigation concerning improper drug marketing

OLYMPIA – Attorney General Rob McKenna and Department of Social and Health Services Secretary Robin Arnold-Williams today announced that Washington’s Medicaid program will recover more than $3 million from a settlement with drug manufacturer Schering-Plough Corporation that resolves allegations that the company improperly marketed several products.