Tom Howell Jr.

FDA seeks authority to destroy illicit drug shipments

Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb urged Congress Wednesday to let his agency destroy unlabeled drugs that pour in through the mail, saying it is not uncommon to see traffickers resend parcels that were rejected once and may contain opioids or other deadly drugs.

March 21, 2018

Trump administration says it’s developing medications to help wean people off opioids

The Trump administration said Tuesday it is developing long-lasting medications that wean people off opioids — while slashing the odds of relapse — and overdose-reversing drugs that can compete with synthetics that kill faster than regular heroin.

March 20, 2018

Donald Trump calls for getting tough on drug dealers, proposes using death penalty

Tired of "talking and doing nothing," President Trump said Monday the U.S. should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to opioids that includes execution of some drug dealers, vowing it would crush the problem fast.

March 19, 2018

Lamar Alexander seeks support for Obamacare stabilization plan

With time running out, Sen. Lamar Alexander is pleading with Congress to rally behind his Obamacare-stabilization plan for two simple reasons — it will slash premiums, and it pays for itself.

March 18, 2018

Donald Trump to Jeff Sessions: Seek death penalty for drug trafficking ‘where appropriate’

President Trump on Monday plans to direct the Justice Department to seek the death penalty for opioid traffickers in certain cases and urge Congress to make it easier to impose mandatory minimum sentences on people who sell fentanyl or other drugs that can be deadly in trace amounts.

March 18, 2018

Andrew McCabe should have been allowed to retire, Marco Rubio says

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Sunday said deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe should have been able to retire instead of being fired just two days short of locking in his pension benefits.

March 18, 2018

Adam Schiff says Congress should reinstate Robert Mueller if Donald Trump fires him

Rep. Adam Schiff of California said Sunday that Democrats and Republicans alike should move to reinstate special counsel Robert Mueller if President Trump moves to fire him.

March 18, 2018

Lindsey Graham says Mike Pompeo, Gina Haspel will be confirmed despite Rand Paul opposition

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he thinks President Trump's picks to lead the State Department and CIA will make it through the Senate, despite Sen. Rand Paul's pledge to try and block the nominees.

March 18, 2018

Jeff Flake says Donald Trump firing Robert Mueller ‘massive red line that can’t be crossed’

Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said Sunday he hopes the White House's sparring with key figures at the FBI doesn't turn into an attempt to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, calling it a "massive red line that can't be crossed."

March 18, 2018

Donald Trump moves to discredit James Comey, Andrew McCabe; claims bias in Robert Mueller probe

President Trump lashed out at special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling Sunday, saying it is tainted by political bias and won't find evidence of collusion with his 2016 campaign -- sparking bipartisan fears that he is stress-testing a plan to have the high-profile investigator fired.

March 18, 2018

FDA announces push to slash nicotine in cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration launched a historic effort Thursday to try to end cigarette addiction, proposing to slash the level of nicotine in smokes in an attempt to curb what remains a deadly public health issue.

March 15, 2018

Health insurance lobby AHIP selects Matt Eyles as new CEO

America's Health Insurance Plans, the main lobbying group for health insurers, announced Wednesday it is promoting one of its own to replace president and CEO Marilyn Tavenner, a former Obama administration official who is retiring in a few months.

March 14, 2018

House leaders eye ambitious opioids package

A key House panel announced plans Wednesday to debate more than two dozen bills targeting the opioids crisis, from speeding approval of painkilling alternatives to linking ER patients with treatment after they overdose.

March 14, 2018

Donald Trump-backed right-to-try bill falters in House

Democrats blocked a bill Tuesday that would have let dying patients try medicines that haven't won full regulatory approval, saying they worry about cutting the federal government out of oversight.

March 13, 2018

House Democrats block patients ‘right to try’ bill

Democrats blocked a bill Tuesday that would have let dying patients try medicines that haven't won full regulatory approval, saying they worried about cutting the federal government out of oversight.

March 13, 2018

Tom Price, ousted health secretary, repaid $60K for his travel

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price wrote checks totaling $60,000 to repay taxpayers for pricey plane trips that cost him his job, though Democratic investigators aren't satisfied, saying White House counselor Kellyanne Conway accompanied him and should account for the costs of her seat.

March 13, 2018

Conservative groups fire warning shot over Obamacare aid

Conservative pressure groups fired a warning shot Monday at members of Congress eyeing measures that would free up federal funding to stabilize Obamacare's wobbly markets.

March 12, 2018

Tim Cunningham still missing; CDC marks one month since employee vanished

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday is has "not given up hope" that one of its disease trackers will be found after mysteriously vanishing from the Atlanta area one month ago.

March 12, 2018

Idaho finds silver lining in Verma’s rejection letter

Idaho officials on Friday said a federal letter that rebuffed their plan to implement a workaround of Obamacare is actually an "invitation" to keep talking about ways to offer cheaper health insurance.

March 9, 2018

Martin Shkreli, ‘Pharma bro,’ gets 7 years in prison for fraud

Martin Shkreli, the so-called "pharma bro" who jacked up the price of a lifesaving drug and enraged Congress, was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for defrauding investors.

March 9, 2018