Intelligencer uses AG office's press release as news

On page 7 of this morning's Intelligencer, the reader can find the following story (no link found) about our attorney general and his investigation into the cost of Mylan's EpiPen:

W.Va. Attorney General Seeks Enforcement of Subpoena

Other than the "according to Morrisey" which is added to the ends of the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs and the last paragraph which tells us that "Mylan didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday," the 9-paragraph article is word-for-word from an AG news release. (You can read it here.) While I could see using parts of this, as a number of other sources did (especially Morrisey's quotes), there ought to be some warning or acknowledgement to the reader that what they are reading was not written by a reporter but rather Morrisey's office. This is a news release and not a news report; we as readers need to know that fact -- especially in an election year when such offerings often double as PR releases. (Tell us that this is press release from Morrisey's office? What was I thinking? This is the Intelligencer, after all.)

USA Today claims Gayle Manchin promoted EpiPens in her role as president of the National Association of State Boards of Education

USA Today reported yesterday that the nationwide acceptance of EpiPens may have been significantly aided by Gayle Manchin, our senator's wife and mother of Mylan CEO Heather Bresch:

After Gayle Manchin took over the National Association of State Boards of Education in 2012, she spearheaded an unprecedented effort that encouraged states to require schools to purchase medical devices that fight life-threatening allergic reactions.

The association’s move helped pave the way for Mylan Specialty, maker of EpiPens, to develop a near monopoly in school nurses’ offices. Eleven states drafted laws requiring epinephrine auto-injectors. Nearly every other state recommended schools stock them after what the White House called the "EpiPen Law" in 2013 gave funding preference to those that did.

The CEO of Mylan then, and now, was Heather Bresch. Gayle Manchin is Heather Bresch’s mother.

This is a well-developed piece of investigative reporting.

This morning's Charleston Gazette-Mail has a front-page article which summarizes USA Today's findings. Needless to say, neither local "newspaper" covered the story.