THIS WEEK IN THE NEWS
August 4 to August 8, 2014
TOP HEADLINES
Schneiderman Announces First Two Rounds Of Grants To Police Departments For Bulletproof Vests
During stops in Rochester and Buffalo as well as on Long Island, Attorney General Schneiderman announced the first two rounds of awards to law enforcement agencies in New York State through his inVEST Partnership, a statewide program that offers law enforcement agencies the opportunity to purchase bulletproof vests for sworn officers.
Awards were announced for 60 law enforcement agencies in 23 counties in Western New York, the Capital Region, and the North Country, including $156,738.30 to support the purchase of 375 vests in Erie County, $90,504.48 for 234 vests in Monroe County and $160,368.50 for 272 vests in Albany County. In addition, in the New York City Metropolitan area, the Attorney General’s Initiative has allocated $671,359.00 for 2,402 vests for the NYPD, $498,729.00 for 1,397 vests for the Nassau County Police Department, $138,210.00 for 425 vests for the Suffolk County Police Department and financial assistance for 21 additional area police departments.
In total, these first two rounds of inVEST Partnership grants will provide more than $2 million to ensure more than 6,000 police officers are given the life-saving equipment that they need.
Schneiderman Secures Second Circuit Decision Allowing His Office To Distribute $410 Million To Madoff Victims
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Attorney General Schneiderman’s 2012 settlement with J. Ezra Merkin, who invested over $2 billion with Bernie Madoff on behalf of hundreds of investors, may proceed. As a result, his office will now be allowed to distribute the proceeds of his $410 million settlement with Merkin directly to Madoff’s victims. This decision means that these victims should begin receiving funds in the coming months, after they lost most of their money as a result of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
Schneiderman Issues Alert And Tips For Consumers In Response To Reports Of Massive Online Security Breach
Attorney General Schneiderman issued an alert to consumers following a reported massive online security breach in which hackers stole over 1 billion unique user names and passwords and half a billion e-mail addresses. The Attorney General offered tips to consumers for safeguarding sensitive personal information online. While this latest breach is perhaps the largest ever of its kind, it is just the latest in a new and growing trend. As the Attorney General outlined in his data breach report last night, the number of data breaches in New York alone have tripled since 2006.
Schneiderman Announces Settlement With Pfizer To End Deceptive Advertising Practices And Off-Label Promotion Of Rapamune
Along with 40 other state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Attorney General Schneiderman reached a $35 million settlement with Pfizer arising from the alleged improper marketing of the immunosuppressive drug Rapamune. New York’s share of the settlement is over $1.7 million. The settlement resolves charges that Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Pfizer, unlawfully promoted Rapamune for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and lobbied doctors and hospitals to prescribe the drug for those off-label uses.
Schneiderman And A.G.s Of 29 States Urge FDA To Strengthen Regulation Of E-Cigarettes
Attorney General Schneiderman, together with the attorneys general of Illinois, Indiana, and Massachussetts, co-sponsored a letter submitted to the Food and Drug Administration that was signed by 29 state attorneys general. The Attorney General urged the FDA to strengthen its proposed regulation of electronic cigarettes with the goal of protecting young people from the harms of nicotine addiction, who have been targeted by e-cigarette companies in advertisements. Among other recommendations, the attorneys general pressed the FDA to prohibit flavors in e-cigarettes, and to restrict advertising and marketing for e-cigarettes in the same manner as for cigarettes.
In Other News…
Attorney General Schneiderman’s Triple C Award recognized 457 Nassau County students for their “courage, character and commitment” at the end of this school year. He honored their achievement during a reception at Bethpage High School.
Attorney General Schneiderman attended National Night Out Against Crime in Manhattan’s 7th Precinct, urging members of the community to work together to stop violence.
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Visit our website at ag.ny.gov, where you can learn more about the office’s various initiatives. You can also contact us here.
