Latest news with #RaúlTorrez
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NM attorney general and two manufacturers cap diabetes drug costs in settlements
A pharmacy manager retrieves a bottle of antibiotics. (Photo by) Under settlement agreements reached earlier this year and announced by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Wednesday, two insulin manufacturers have committed to make the diabetes treatment cheaper for New Mexicans. 'These are huge wins for New Mexicans who have struggled with the outrageous cost of insulin,' Torrez said in a statement. 'These agreements will help people stop rationing medication, avoid financial hardship, and focus on staying healthy. We are holding drug manufacturers accountable and making access to life-saving treatment more equitable.' New Mexico Department of Justice spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez told Source NM that the agreements provide insured patients who might have a high deductible or copay the option to pay cash instead of using their insurance, and to pay no more than $35 for a monthly supply of insulin, Rodriguez said. The New Mexico state law enacted in 2020 that caps insulin costs at $25 remains in full force and is not preempted or replaced by the new settlements, Rodriguez said. Instead, the agreements are 'additive protections mainly aimed at helping cash-paying and uninsured patients, while deferring to state law when it offers better pricing,' she said. As many as 207,600 adults in New Mexico, or approximately 11% of the state's adult population, have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Without the caps, patients in other states could pay $150 per month or more, especially if they require multiple variations of the drug, Stateline reports. More states are doing what they can to cap insulin costs High out-of-pocket costs have historically forced many patients to choose between buying insulin and meeting other basic needs, NMDOJ said in a news release. The settlements result from the agency's independent investigations into insulin pricing practices, NMDOJ said. The state's agreement with Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, signed on April 18, requires the company to maintain its Insulins ValYou Savings Program, which allows patients who pay out-of-pocket to receive a month's supply for $35. The Sanofi settlement also requires it to maintain its Patient Connection Program, which allows uninsured patients who aren't eligible for Medicaid and whose annual household income is at or below 400% of the federal poverty line to receive insulin for free. Under the settlement, Sanofi must also provide patients live phone and translation support in Spanish, Hmong, Somali and Mandarin Chinese; and participating pharmacies will receive training to help patients enroll in affordability programs. The settlement with Novo Nordisk Inc., signed on May 19, requires the company to maintain its MyInsulinRX Program, which offers diabetes patients the option to pay $35 or less for a monthly prescription. Under the agreement, Novo Nordisk must also continue its Patient Assistance Program, which offers insulin for free. The settlement also requires Novo Nordisk to notify pharmacies about available discounts at the point of sale, help patients enroll on the spot and offer live phone and website chat support in Spanish. Reporter Danielle Prokop contributed reporting to this story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
NMSU making progress on hazing reforms, NMDOJ says
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico State University is making progress on implementing reforms in response to a hazing incident involving the university's men's basketball team, according to the New Mexico Department of Justice. Remains of found in Santa Fe National Forest identified as 1950s wrestler, actor Following the hazing incident during the 2022-2023 basketball season, the NMDOJ released a report in December 2024 which identified seven areas of concern and provided 35 recommendations to NMSU aimed at improving campus safety, accountability, and compliance with federal law. Attorney General Raúl Torrez said NMSU has implemented nearly two-thirds of the 35 recommendations outlined in the report. 'In response to our report, Title IX and Hazing on Campus: Lessons Learned from New Mexico State University, NMSU has taken swift and decisive action, completing nearly two-thirds of the 35 recommendations outlined by our office and making substantial progress on the rest. I encourage every university in New Mexico to review this report and adopt similar reforms to foster safer, more supportive environments for their students,' Torrez stated in a news release. NMSU President Valerio Ferme said that the university is still working to make more improvements. There's still work to be done to ensure our campuses are places where everyone, especially students, can safely pursue their educational and professional goals. We have an incredibly devoted group of leaders who are committed to making us better, and we will continue to dedicate time and resources to address hazing and harassment to the best of our abilities,' Ferme stated. The hazing allegations involved now former players Deshawndre Washington, Kim Aiken Jr., and Doctor Bradley who were accused of sexually harassing and assaulting their teammates and student managers. Aiken and Bradley, have already taken plea deals for their role in the scandal. As part of the plea deals they provided testimony against Washington and will be sentenced after Washington's trial which has been delayed multiple times. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM AG opposes U.S. House GOP efforts to restrict state laws on AI
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technology has made it easier to create believable but totally fake videos and images and spread misinformation about elections, experts say. (Tero Vesalainen / Getty Images) New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez recently signed onto a letter backed by 39 other attorneys general opposing efforts by U.S. House Republicans to restrict states for the next decade from passing laws related to artificial intelligence. 'Artificial Intelligence will be the most impactful technology of our generation and states must have the ability to shepherd its progress in a safe and responsible way,' Torrez said in a statement. 'While Congress has failed to act, we've worked hard to develop new proposals—like House Bill 401—which would have penalized the use of AI-generated content for harassment, extortion, or defamation, and created tools to detect harmful synthetic media and unmask bad actors. Though it didn't pass, strong state-level protections are still urgently needed, and states must have the flexibility to regulate this emerging technology if Congress refuses to act.' Republicans added the clause restricting states' laws on AI to the U.S. House budget bill congressional they hope to pass before Memorial Day. The measure, advanced on May 14, as part of the House Energy & Commerce Committee's budget reconciliation proposal. Exceptions to the state ban would include laws that 'remove legal impediments to, or facilitate the deployment or operation of' AI systems. In their letter, the AGs write that the 'promise of AI raises exciting and important possibilities. But, like any emerging technology, there are risks to adoption without responsible, appropriate, and thoughtful oversight. In the absence of federal action to install this oversight, over the years, states have considered and passed legislation to address a wide range of harms associated with AI and automated decision-making.' Those harms include 'deep-fakes designed to mislead voters and consumers,' the letter notes. In addition to HB401, which did not make it out of the state House Commerce & Economic Development Committee during the most recent legislative session, New Mexico Democrats backed a so-called Artificial Intelligence Act, which did not make it through the session, but would have created a state regulatory AI framework. A signed memorial created an AI working group for the Legislative Education Study Committee, aimed at making recommendations on AI's use in education, among other topics.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico joins suit against Trump administration over cuts to AmeriCorps
New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez announced on April 29 the state had joined a multi-state coalition suing the Trump administration over cuts to AmeriCorps. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Tuesday announced the state has joined a multi-coalition suing the Trump administration over cuts to grants and staffing for AmeriCorps, an independent federal agency for public service. According to the complaint, 'at the behest of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency,' AmeriCorps leadership placed all members serving in the National Civilian Community Corps on leave and told them their participation in the program would end on April 30; placed 85% of its staff on administrative leave and subsequently sent them reduction in force notices. Leadership then began notifying State Service Commissions, which distribute AmeriCorps grants, that $400 million worth of AmeriCorps programs were immediately terminated. 'AmeriCorps is a vital public service program in our country, and its sudden dismantling is not only reckless—it's unlawful,' Torrez said in a statement. 'Here in New Mexico, these cuts will hurt students, families, and underserved communities who rely on AmeriCorps-supported programs for education, housing, and critical community services. I'm proud to stand with my colleagues to defend this agency and protect the federal commitment to service, equity, and local resilience.' According to a news release, New Mexico on April 25 received notice from the federal government of termination of its AmeriCorps grant programs, which support volunteer and service effort. The more than $2 million in AmeriCorps grants will impact a variety of programs in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Taos and Ruidoso, as well as programs serving rural, tribal and underserved populations across the state. The funding went to programs that include: 'culturally responsive education, after-school and youth mentoring programs, special education services, teacher preparation, environmental conservation, and housing and support for at-risk and homeless youth.' U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), described as the first AmeriCorps member to serve in the U.S. Senate, said in a statement that AmeriCorps participants 'do critical work in New Mexico, connecting veterans to services, helping fight the opioid epidemic, helping older adults age with dignity, and rebuilding communities after disasters. I will not stand idly by as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE dismantle these programs in order to line the pockets of billionaires.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Torrez's CYFD investigation will fail if it leaves people out
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says he's going to launch 'a comprehensive and wide-ranging investigation' into how the Children, Youth and Families Department fails children. Allow me to save him some time. I can just write the report now — and I'll throw in the news story that will follow. The story will go like this: The beleaguered Children Youth and Families Department and its embattled leadership are plagued with a shortage of foster parents and high turnover among demoralized, overworked and understaffed caseworkers, according to the blistering conclusions in a scathing report released today. We know this is what the report will say for a couple of reasons. First, almost (but not quite) all of that is true. Indeed CYFD's performance is every bit as awful as Torrez says it is. Second, it's what scathing reports on embattled child welfare agencies all over the country always say, particularly when those issuing the reports show no interest in real solutions. Real solutions have been in short supply in New Mexico. Instead, there's an endless appetite for rearranging the deck chairs on the child welfare Titanic: Create an ombudsman office! Take the agency out of the control of the governor! Move some functions to another agency! None of that ever works. Real solutions involve a single urgent first step: Viewing those who are investigated by CYFD and who lose their children to foster care as fully human — and worth talking to. That's not for the sake of the parents; it's for the sake of the children. Because it's the families needlessly investigated and the children needlessly taken who overload the system. That leads to tragedies ranging from children warehoused in hideous institutions or makeshift spaces to children in real danger overlooked in their own homes. It's not easy to rethink the stereotypes. We know the horror stories about brutally abusive or hopelessly addicted parents; but they're nothing like most of the parents caseworkers see. In 2022, the most recent year for which data are available, 78% of cases in which children were thrown into foster care in New Mexico did not involve even an accusation of sexual abuse or any form of physical abuse. Nearly two-thirds did not involve even an accusation of parental drug or alcohol abuse. In contrast, more than two-thirds involved 'neglect.' Sometimes that can be extremely serious; more often it means the family is poor. Indeed, CYFD admits that in 19% of cases, it took away children because of issues involving housing. So it's no wonder study after study finds that in typical cases children left in their own homes typically do better in later life even than comparably-maltreated children placed in foster care. In part, that's because of the enormous emotional trauma inherent in tearing a child from everyone loving and familiar. But there's also the high risk of abuse in foster care itself. Multiple studies find abuse in one-quarter to one-third of family foster homes; the rate in group homes and institutions is even worse. But when you overload the system with children who don't need to be there you create an artificial 'shortage' of foster homes — so more children are institutionalized, with all the horrible outcomes New Mexicans have seen. At the same time, all those false allegations, trivial cases and poverty cases overload workers, leaving them less time to investigate any case properly. That's almost always the real reason some children in real danger are missed. Real solutions demand doing more to ameliorate the worst hardships of poverty, and providing families with high-quality defense counsel; not to get 'bad parents' off, but to provide alternatives to the cookie-cutter 'service plans' often dished out by CYFD. But understanding that requires that first basic step: treating parents as fully human. Attorney General Torrez doesn't seem ready for that. As Source NM reported: Torrez's agency is also calling on current and former case workers, foster families, and youth impacted by the system to come forward with information … He's right to do that. But notice who's missing. He expresses no interest in hearing from birth parents who have lost children to the system because their poverty is confused with neglect. He shows no interest in hearing from the lawyers who represent them. He shows no interest in reaching out to anti-poverty organizations to ask them what they see when their clients interact with CYFD. He shows no interest in speaking to civil rights groups about whether they see all races treated equally when they encounter CYFD. That's a shame. Because, to paraphrase Torrez, I think we have all grown tired of waking up and hearing about another grandstanding politician holding another news conference to announce another investigation of CYFD that will solve nothing — because it avoids the problem at the root of all the rest: The only way to fix foster care is to have less of it.
