Jeff was one of the O's better reporters, for sure. Probably doing the smart thing in preemptively jumping the sinking ship. But what of Tony Green, the AG's departing longtime flack? Pretty sure he also was an ex-Oregonian reporter. Was he dismissed for any particular reason, just retiring, or what? Curiously, the linked AG news release in Jack's story makes no mention of him whatsover, even tho he's been there for years.

Perhaps sees the writing on the wall...?

I'm glad he landed on his brown nose.

Feet, I mean, feet.

Pigs.
Trough.
Oink.

Agree with Wassup? there's no mention of Tony Green's departure or retirement party. Presumably the DOJ now has 2 PR flacks?

Who knows? Maybe Green and Manning will work in tandem.

One thing's for sure: With her husband owning Willamette Week, Manning's buddies at the O, and the Trib busy turning into the publicists for Tri-Met and Metro, Rosenblum's not likely to get much bad press.

Lets all ask Rosenblum a law enforcement question.. And about a subject committed by statute to the AG's pervue, IIRC.

There has been an epidemic of shingles infections among sixty plus folks. Shingles is caused by the same virus which causes chicken pox, and seems to appear in folks who have had chicken pox as kids.

There is a shingles vaccine. There is a sole source producer in the US, Merck.

A lot of senior folks who should get the shingles vaccine lack insurance coverage for it. Most county health departments in Oregon (including Multnomah) don't offer the shingles vaccine. Many low cost health care clinics (e.g. Southwest Community Health) also don't offer it.

The shingles can be obtained at many chain pharmacies.Walgreens; Fred Meyer; Rite Aid, Bi-Mart, Costco each offer it.

At oddly, exactly the same price. $ 225.00 per injection, last I checked in June, 2012.

Why is the retail, cash paid cost for the vaccine exactly the same from the traditional chain pharmacies as well as the "membership" outfits like Costco and Bi-Mart?

If I were a cynical person, I might suspectt collusion and price fixing, violations of Oregon's state anti trust law.
But since I'm not a cynical person, I certainly don't suspect that.

Maybe an Oregon AG will actually understand that there is a state anti trust law, and just maybe actually initiate investigation of a very odd pricing pattern for a product - shingles vaccine - for which their is one source only, and which seems to be uniformly priced across a whole series of retail vendors with wildly different cost structures. Costco and Freddies have very different cost structures, yet there is no price competition.

Is it possible it be that the manufacturer is telling retailers that unless the price is kept at that one price point, the retailer will have a problem obtaining that vaccine, and other Merck products as well?

Anybody home in the Oregon AG's office? Anybody awake in the Oregon AG's office? Anybody going to ask questions in the Oregon AG's office?

Come on Ms. Rosenblum, you are right in the prime age group for getting shingles. How about you take a look at the pharmaceutical pricing structure for the shingles vaccine, bith the manufacturer end and the retailer end. Maybe even initiate a NAAG multi state inquiry?

TH

I agree with Wassup? that he's probably bailing the sinking ship, and early enough that he can get a job. It's going to be a really rude awakening for the remaining staffers who ride that beast all the way down, comparable to all of the Borders employees who assumed that they'd just get jobs in the publishing business when Borders shut down. (A little hint: they'd best pray that the jobs they get involve the words "Would you like to supersize that?". Considering the current journalism job market, most will be lucky to find a job that involves standing on street corners, asking passersby "Business, mister?" It won't be too different from their previous jobs at the O, but still...)

Nonny Mouse:

Apparently you didn't get the memo: vaccines cause autism and/or Alzheimers. The A.G. should be suing Merck for injecting these poisons into our bodies under the guise of public health.

Yeah, I'm joking.

In all seriousness, the Attorney General's office doesn't neet a full time public relations office: because they don't do anything newsworthy on a full time basis. They need a junior lawyer with an undergrate degree in English to draft the press releases, spellcheck them, and fax them to their water carriers at the local newspapers, radio/tv stations. The "reporters" regurgitate the press release almost verbatim: that's how it's done here.

I'm not joking.

I know somebody who got the shingles vaccine and THEN got shingles.

How would this sort of thing be tracked?

Was/is it a live but attenuated strain?

It is so hard to trust these days.