Other LanguagesOLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced a new policy that requires the Attorney General’s Office to obtain free, prior and informed consent before initiating a program or project that directly and tangibly affects tribes, tribal rights, tribal lands and sacred sites. Attorney General Ferguson also announced that his office will refrain from filing any litigation against a tribal government or tribal-owned business without first engaging in meaningful consultation to resolve the dispute, provided that doing so does not violate the rules of professional conduct.
As a result of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has provided more than 1,700 pages of communications previously not made public between the EPA and advisory committee members in the wake of its 2017 policy barring scientists who receive grants from the agency from serving on the committees.
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that Amazon will commit to nationwide corporate reforms after his office’s investigation found dozens of children’s school supplies sold on its online marketplace had illegal levels of toxic metals lead and cadmium.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that, as a result of his lawsuit, St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and seven other CHI Franciscan hospitals will forgive as much as $20 million in debt, pay $2.22 million in refunds, pay the Attorney General’s Office $2.46 million, and rehabilitate the credit of thousands of patients who qualified for charity care between 2012 and 2017 but did not receive it. CHI Franciscan entered into a legally enforceable agreement to reform its charity care practices across all eight of its acute care hospitals. Attorney General Ferguson sued St. Joseph Medical Center, but the resolution involves charity care reforms for eight CHI Franciscan hospitals and provides restitution for patients withheld charity care at all eight hospitals.
Attorney General Ferguson issues statement after Trump Administration shelves offshore drilling plan
Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued the following statement today after the Trump Administration announced that it is putting on indefinite hold its plan to open more than 90 percent of all federal waters to offshore drilling, including off the coast of Washington state.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued the following statement today after a federal judge granted a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration’s Title X family planning “gag rule.” The rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on May 3, impacts Title X, the federal funding program for reproductive healthcare and family planning services.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that his office will offer a free legal clinic on Saturday for Spokane-area military service members and veterans in need of help with completing a will or reinstating their driver’s license.
The Washington Legislature today passed Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s agency request bill prohibiting the manufacture or possession of untraceable, undetectable 3D-printed guns. The bill also prohibits sending a printable gun file to a person who is ineligible to possess firearms. The bill designates undetectable firearms as contraband.
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s today announced that Johnson & Johnson will pay $9.9 million to avoid going to trial for misrepresentations and failure to include serious risks in the instructions and marketing materials for surgical mesh devices. Ferguson is the first state attorney general to file a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson regarding surgical mesh devices.
Today, with a unanimous, bipartisan vote, state legislators passed a bill requested by Attorney General Ferguson that strengthens data breach notification laws.