News/Events

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been granted by the D.C. Circuit. The lawsuit, which was brought by the State of Oklahoma, challenges an FCC order that would effectively limit the amount of money that Arkansas and other local units of government may recover from Inmate Calling Systems (ICS).

“It is important for Arkansas to add its voice in strong opposition to the FCC’s order,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “By being a part of this litigation, I will work to ensure that local budgets and law enforcement agencies across this State are not burdened with a costly, unlawful order from the federal government. I am confident that in the end the Courts will invalidate this order, which failed to consider cost permanently.”

On March 7, the D.C. Circuit granted in part a motion to stay the order.

The FCC’s order, which caps rates and limits fees for ICS, ignores significant ICS- and security-related costs borne by the states and their need to recoup these costs from ICS providers.

The FCC caps inmate calls at 11 cents per minute for all local and long distance calls from state and federal prisons. In jails, prices will range from 14 cents to 22 cents per minute, depending on the size of the institution. The new cap accounts for a more than 50 percent decrease from previous limits. Additionally, in a constitutionally-suspect power grab, the new caps will apply to all intrastate calls, not just interstate calls.

Rutledge, along with Attorneys General from Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana and Missouri, filed the motion to intervene last month.

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge earlier this month prevailed in a case, Baptist Health Systems v. Rutledge, that kept in place Act 766 of 2013, also known as the Arkansas Peer Review Fairness Act. The State Supreme Court agreed in a 5-2 decision with Rutledge’s request not to consider the Act’s constitutionality because the three hospitals challenging it had not alleged that the statute was harming them and it would be inappropriate for the Court to offer judgment.

“This was an important case to ensure that Arkansans receive the highest quality health care,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Act 766, which was duly passed by the General Assembly, is a proper way to protect the peer-review process in the State’s health care institutions. Peer review is accepted as the most effective means of monitoring quality and improving patient care, and it is essential to preserving the highest standards for Arkansas’s health care providers.”

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced the winners of the 2016 Child Safety Poster Contest at a ceremony last night. The theme of the contest, sponsored by the Attorney General’s office, was Bring Our Missing Children Home.

“I want to thank all of the students, families and teachers who participated and congratulate the poster contest winners from Cabot, Little Rock, Mena and Pine Bluff,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “I appreciate the safety discussions this contest created across the State. More than 500 entries were received and these creative students did an excellent job highlighting this year’s theme. I am extremely impressed by the talent of our young Arkansans.”

Attorney General Rutledge also extended her appreciation to the contest judges: Melinda Faubel with AT&T, Cynthia Haas with the Arkansas Arts Council and Paul Leopoulos with the Thea Foundation. AT&T helped sponsor the contest, and the Thea Foundation hosted the awards ceremony.

2016 winners:

Kindergarten

• Brookelynn Anders, Edgewood Elementary School (Pine Bluff), 1st Place
• Jeimy Garcia, Edgewood Elementary School (Pine Bluff), 2nd Place
• Ja’Breya Spellman, Edgewood Elementary School (Pine Bluff), 3rd Place

1st Grade

• Ryan Howard, Edgewood Elementary School (Pine Bluff), 1st Place
• Za’Miyah Litzsey, Edgewood Elementary School (Pine Bluff), 2nd Place
• Elijah Watson, Edgewood Elementary School (Pine Bluff), 3rd Place

2nd Grade

• Pablo Vazquez, Carver Magnet Elementary School (Little Rock), 1st Place

3rd Grade

• Burcu Karabacak, Carver Magnet Elementary School (Little Rock), 1st Place
• Addison Thomas, Holly Harshman Elementary School (Mena), 2nd Place
• McKenzie Knighten, Holly Harshman Elementary School (Mena), 3rd Place
• Avalyn Sexton, Holly Harshman Elementary School (Mena), 3rd Place

4th Grade

• Hailey Emerson, Holly Harshman Elementary School (Mena), 1st Place
• Myla Nelms, Western Hills Elementary School (Little Rock), 2nd Place
• Psalm Wistrand, Pulaski Heights Elementary School (Little Rock), 3rd Place

5th Grade

• Mason Smith, Cabot Middle School North (Cabot), 1st Place
• Layla Sessler, Holly Harshman Elementary School (Mena), 2nd Place
• Emma Johnson, Holly Harshman Elementary School (Mena), 3rd Place

The winning fifth grade poster, submitted by Mason Smith, will be entered into the National Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest, hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced that the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units joined the federal government to reach an agreement in principle with the pharmaceutical manufacturer Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company with its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, to settle allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act. Rutledge released the following statement:

“Arkansas is set to receive $15,459.81 from a multi-state settlement reached with Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. The Arkansas Medicaid Trust Fund, which incurred losses as a result of this fraud, will be reimbursed. This pharmaceutical company violated the False Claims Act by using meals and speaker program honoraria as incentives to entice physicians to prescribe the drugs Azor, Benicar, Tribenzor and Welchol.”

Daiichi Sankyo will pay the states and the federal government a total of $39 million in civil damages and penalties for Medicaid and other federally-funded health care programs.

The investigation that led to the settlement grew out of a false claims action filed by a former Daiichi Sankyo sales representative in 2010. The whistleblower’s complaint alleged that the claims were false because they resulted from kickbacks that Daiichi Sankyo provided to physicians who prescribed the drugs.

The settlement agreement reimburses the federal government and the participating states for damages that were assessed in accordance with the amounts that Daiichi Sankyo expended on each speaker program for each fiscal year. The total Medicaid portion of the settlement – state and federal – is $10 million; and the states’ share of the Medicaid recovery is $5 million. Additionally, as part of the settlement, Daiichi Sankyo has agreed to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), which obligates Daiichi Sankyo to undertake substantial internal compliance reforms for the next five years.

Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia are participating in the settlement. The federal settlement was announced by the Justice Department in January of this year.

Arkansas’s portion of the settlement will be placed in the Arkansas Medicaid Trust Fund.