UNITED STATES NEWS

Former West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw dies at 88

Dec 7, 2024, 5:26 PM | Updated: 5:30 pm

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Darrell V. McGraw Jr., a former longtime West Virginia attorney general and state Supreme Court justice who fought back against the state’s drug overdose crisis, died Saturday. He was 88.

Jared Hunt, a spokesman for the state Supreme Court, said in an email that McGraw died of a heart attack.

The West Virginia Democratic Party called McGraw “a tireless advocate for justice, fairness, and the people of our great state.”

“His legacy of service and commitment to our state will never be forgotten,” it said in a statement. “Darrell’s work made a lasting impact on our state, and his spirit of public service will continue to inspire generations to come.”

A Democrat, McGraw won a 12-year term on the Supreme Court in 1976. He was elected attorney general in 1992 and re-elected four times before losing to Republican Patrick Morrisey in 2012. McGraw lost a bid to return to the Supreme Court in 2016.

“My prayers and sympathies go out to the family and friends of Darrell McGraw for their loss,” Morrisey said in a statement on the social platform X.

In 2001, McGraw accused Purdue Pharma in a lawsuit of dishonestly marketing the painkiller OxyContin in West Virginia. The company agreed to a $10 million settlement in 2004.

McGraw later filed a lawsuit over excessive amounts of prescription painkillers that were flooding southern West Virginia pharmacies. After McGraw left office, the state announced settlements of $20 million with distributor Cardinal Health Inc. and $16 million with AmerisourceBergen Drug Co.

In addition, a Georgia company that McGraw accused of supplying ingredients used to make drugs known as bath salts and synthetic marijuana agreed not to sell or advertise in the state.

The drug overdose epidemic has killed more than 1 million people in the United States since 1999. West Virginia for years has had by far the nation’s highest overdose death rate.

McGraw also focused on consumer protection and antitrust laws, suing direct mail marketers, credit card companies, alternative lenders and other businesses.

In 1998 his office was part of a national settlement against major U.S. cigarette manufacturers. West Virginia currently has the highest rate of adult smokers.

Born Nov. 8, 1936, in Wyoming County, McGraw enlisted in the Army as a teenager. Attending West Virginia University, he was elected student body president and earned bachelor’s and law degrees.

He later became counsel to the state legislature and to Gov. Hulett Smith before being elected to the Supreme Court.

McGraw’s wife, Jorea Marple, is a former state schools superintendent. His brother, former state Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw, died last year.

McGraw is survived by his wife and four children, Hunt said.

Comments

Comment guidelines: No name-calling, personal attacks, profanity, or insults. Please keep the conversation civil and help us moderate comments by reporting abuse.
comments powered by Disqus

United States News

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears speaks with a reporter at her office in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday, Jan...

Associated Press

Trump chops away at the government and the fallout is felt in the Virginia governor’s race

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Trump administration’s aggressive push to cut government jobs is reverberating in the early stages of this year’s race for governor in Virginia. The fast-moving effort by Republican President Donald Trump to overhaul the federal workforce could have a sweeping impact in the state, home to some 145,000 federal employees and […]

7 minutes ago

Associated Press

Crews rush to recover commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice before expected snow and wind

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Just hours after finding 10 people dead in western Alaska from one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state in 25 years, authorities raced to recover their remains and the wreckage of the small commuter plane from unstable sea ice before expected high winds and snow. “The conditions out there […]

8 hours ago

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Baltimore Field Officer director Matt Elliston listens dur...

Associated Press

Trump is signing up local law officers to help with immigration enforcement

For years, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in suburban Indianapolis has wanted to partner with federal immigration authorities to identify and detain immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and facing charges. President Joe Biden’s administration never returned its calls, the sheriff’s office said. But as President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigration, Hamilton […]

9 hours ago

Camden Lee, 16, poses for a portrait at his family's apartment, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in the Broo...

Associated Press

A 15-year-old went to a Brooklyn parade. The NYPD wrongly accused him of a mass shooting

NEW YORK (AP) — Camden Lee was leaving high school football practice in September when he saw the photograph, splashed across the New York Police Department’s social media accounts, that would soon upend his life. In a crisp surveillance image, the 15-year-old stands alone in a hoodie and shorts, eyes cast down on a Brooklyn […]

9 hours ago

Mellow, a transgender woman, poses for a portrait, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, outside of the Norfolk Cir...

Associated Press

Passport applications got more complicated for transgender Americans under new Trump policy

The day after President Donald Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Virginia, where they live. Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent. In an executive order Trump signed the night before, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead […]

9 hours ago

Leslie Knox stands outside her home Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Hamtramck, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul San...

Associated Press

Generations later, a remedy to destroying Black neighborhoods is fulfilled in Michigan

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Leslie Knox was a young girl in the 1960s when her Detroit-area city was accused of destroying neighborhoods to get rid of Black residents. Decades later, the retired nurse has returned to Hamtramck, settling into a new two-story home on Gallagher Street and watching TV from a fold-up chair while she […]

9 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Collins Comfort Masters

Collins Comfort Masters: Your go-to plumbing experts in Arizona

Collins Comfort Masters, a trusted name in HVAC, water and plumbing since 1985, is you go-to plumbers for the residents of Phoenix and the Valley.

...

Asset Preservation Wealth & Tax

How to optimize the most money in 2024 tax returns

As tax season begins, getting your financials in order is important to maximize your tax return.

...

Bright Wealth Management

How to save money on retirement planning following 2024 election

PHOENIX -- With the 2024 election over, economic changes could impact how people plan for retirement as 2025 is on the horizon.

Former West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw dies at 88