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Patient harmed, 1,800 doses of controlled drugs lost at CVS pharmacy, regulator says
Pharmacy giant CVS continues to call them “isolated incidents” even after reports emerged earlier this month that the Ohio Board of Pharmacy found hundreds of problems that could endanger patients at eight of the company’s understaffed pharmacies. Then on Thursday, the board released inspection reports from yet another CVS pharmacy that detailed additional serious problems. […]
Battle over how Ohio regulator spent $4.3 million utility “bribe” continues
Attorneys are continuing to battle over documents regarding how Ohio’s former top utility regulator spent and spoke about $4.3 million he received in 2019. The company paying it later said the money was a bribe made in exchange for official action. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in a class-action suit against Akron-based FirstEnergy want to know […]
LaRose said Issue 1 would help prevent corruption. But it could make it even worse
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has claimed that a proposal to make it much harder to pass citizen-initiated amendments to the Ohio Constitution would have prevented an aspect of the biggest bribery scandal in state history. But LaRose, who announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate on Monday, has refused to discuss his own role […]
Watchdog: It’s great that Ohio’s Intel incentive deal has been inked, but there are holes
A watchdog group is praising state officials for signing an agreement with Intel to make sure the chip manufacturer lives up to its promises in exchange for huge taxpayer incentives. But, it says, the deal doesn’t go nearly far enough. Intel announced in January 2022 that it would build an enormous semiconductor plant in New […]
Fired First Energy executives team up with others suing to get FE report on Ohio scandal
The long list of pension and investment funds suing Akron-based FirstEnergy are making common cause with two fired executives who were ousted in the wake of a scheme in which the company paid out more than $60 million in exchange for a billion-dollar nuclear bailout. They’re demanding the report from an internal investigation FirstEnergy conducted […]
“Corners are cut to dispense prescriptions,” CVS employee tells Ohio Board of Pharmacy
At least eight CVS pharmacies in Ohio are so understaffed that they have seen rampant turnover, dirty conditions, lack of controls over dangerous drugs and wait times as long as a month for prescriptions, according to reports by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. The waits have been so long that a harried CVS pharmacist in […]
Former GOP Chair Borges chair sentenced to five years in massive corruption case
CINCINNATI — It was Matt Borges, the former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, who was handcuffed by U.S. Marshals Friday after being sentenced to five years in prison for his participation in the biggest corruption scandal in state history. But federal prosecutors made clear that they were trying to send a message to other […]
Federal judge blasts disgraced Ohio House speaker as a “bully,” sends him straight to jail
CINCINNATI — Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder spent possibly his last moments as a free man around 2:30 p.m. Thursday and they couldn’t have been pleasant. U.S. District Judge Timothy Black gave the Glenford Republican the maximum possible sentence of 20 years and then ordered blue-shirted U.S. Marshals to immediately take him into custody. […]
Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose won’t discuss Householder connections
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Wednesday said that it shouldn’t surprise anybody who knew former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder that he’s a crook. But LaRose continues to refuse to discuss his own ties to the scandal for which Householder is due to be sentenced today, Thursday. LaRose’s name came up repeatedly earlier […]
Ohio economists divided on housing subsidy in conflict between House and Senate
As the Ohio legislature debates whether to provide subsidies to developers to build low-income housing, a panel of economists is divided on whether that will significantly lower rents. The lack of affordable housing is an acute problem in the Buckeye State. The Columbus Dispatch earlier this month reported that a full-time worker would have to […]
Analysis: Business tax cuts in Senate budget would overwhelmingly benefit the big boys
In announcing a draft state budget last week, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said the plan “puts $3.1 billion back in the hands of families and small businesses.” Huffman didn’t mention the state’s big businesses, but that’s who will get the lion’s share of the business cuts in a state where business taxes already […]
Feds expand probe into new layer of drug middlemen
The Federal Trade Commission this month announced that it was expanding its probe into drug middlemen — companies accused of increasing the cost of prescription drugs through secretive, one-sided arrangements with drugmakers and pharmacies. Specifically, it added a third company created by one of the biggest middlemen to its investigation. The commission, which polices anti-competitive […]