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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California says his chamber has returned from recess ready to tackle the nation's opioid epidemic. (Associated Press)

Kevin McCarthy says House will target opioid epidemic

House GOP leaders returning from Easter break say they have a strategy for tackling the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic that's ravaging the country, though a key senator is urging them to work fast, noting his chamber sent them a bill that's "ready to go."

April 10, 2016
FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016 file photo, army soldiers set up a sign that reads in Portuguese "A mosquito is not stronger than an entire country" at the Central station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as troops across Brazil try to tackle the Zika virus. Scientists may have the first evidence that Zika causes temporary paralysis, according to a new study of patients who developed the rare condition during an outbreak of the virus in Tahiti two years ago. The research was published online Monday, Feb. 29 in the journal, Lancet. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, file)

Large share of Americans know little about Zika: Poll

A large number of Americans have heard little or nothing about the Zika virus, according to a new poll Thursday that shows found most people in the U.S. are not terribly concerned about an outbreak here.

April 7, 2016
In this Jan. 18, 2016, file photo, a researcher holds a container of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Biomedical Sciences Institute at Sao Paulo University in Brazil. The Zika virus is mainly transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

Zika virus: White House transfers nearly $600M from Ebola fight

The White House will redirect nearly $600 million from the Ebola fight in West Africa and other accounts to combat Zika virus, the latest big health scare, tacitly caving to GOP demands Wednesday even as it said it still wants $1.9 billion from Congress to combat the new threat.

April 6, 2016
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, accompanied by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, following a policy luncheon. McConnell took questions on the potential for hearings on Merrick Garland as President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, his relationship to Republican presidential candidates and other topics. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Mitch McConnell: Senate will begin spending process without budget in place

The Senate will likely miss the deadline for approving a federal budget, forgoing the annual blueprint that is supposed to govern all spending, and instead will write bills based on a higher dollar total than the one John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, agreed to with President Obama last year before stepping down as House speaker.

April 5, 2016
Janine Santos holds her 3-month-old son Shayde Henrique who was born with microcephaly while health workers visit her home in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) ** FILE **

White House: Money isn’t there to fight the Zika virus

Congress should "do its job" and take up President Obama's request for nearly $2 billion to combat the Zika virus, the White House said Friday in its most urgent plea to date for emergency funding to defend pregnant women against the mosquito-borne disease linked to serious birth defects.

April 1, 2016
In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, samples of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, responsible for transmitting dengue and Zika, sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz Institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

Tom Frieden, CDC chief, says Americans ‘deserve’ more Zika funding

The chief of the Centers for Disease Control said Thursday the U.S. needs new funding to "provide the protection that Americans deserve" against the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne virus that's been linked to serious birth defects in Latin America and has infected hundreds in Puerto Rico.

March 31, 2016
FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, file photo, a medical researcher uses a monitor that shows the results of blood tests for various diseases, including Zika, at the Gorgas Memorial laboratory in Panama City. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday, March 30, 2016, they are granting use of an experimental blood test to screen blood for Zika virus, an emergency step that will help protect local blood supplies from the mosquito-borne virus. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco, File)

Zika-affected areas can screen blood with experimental test: FDA

Puerto Rico and other areas with active transmission of Zika virus can use an experimental test to screen local blood donations for the mosquito-borne disease that's been linked to serious birth defects, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

March 30, 2016
Nuns have fought legal requirements to provide birth control to their employees at Roman Catholic charities. (Associated Press/File)

Supreme Court seeks new remedy in birth control case

The Supreme Court appears to be searching for a middle ground on the Obamacare contraceptive mandate, issuing an order Tuesday asking both the government and the religious charities challenging the rules to try to come up with options that can accommodate both sides.

March 29, 2016
In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016, photograph, Dr. Josh Blum demonstrates how to administer a dose of naloxone while conferring with the inmate at the Denver County Jail in downtown Denver. Jails and correction agencies across the country such as Denver are teaching soon-to-be-released inmates how to use the heroin overdose antidote called naloxone, either to save others and sometimes themselves. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) ** FILE **

White House unveils long list of efforts to combat opioid abuse

President Obama proposed a series of steps Tuesday to save addicts who've been swept up by the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic, from allowing doctors to perform medication-based treatment on more patients to expanding the use of an overdose-reversing drug.

March 29, 2016
President Barack Obama shares a humorous moment with a group of doctors from around the country in the Oval Office, Oct. 5, 2009, prior to a health insurance reform event at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

D.C. is worst place for doctors to practice: WalletHub

The nation's capital is the worst place for doctors to practice, according to a survey released Tuesday that looked at wages, the cost of malpractice and other factors that face a set of professionals who are highly paid and respected, yet reeling from student debt and an ever-shifting landscape.

March 28, 2016
Shavonne Bullock, a recovering heroin addict, holds a demonstration dose of the medication Suboxone during an appointment at the West Division Family Health Center in Chicago on March 11, 2013. Each dose is incorporated on a dissolvable film, which is placed below the tongue where is dissolves and is absorbed into the bloodstream. Suboxone helps suppress withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings for people recovering from addiction to opioid drugs. (Associated Press) **FILE**

HHS says Medicaid expansion will combat opioid crisis, mental illness

Nearly 2 million uninsured people with a mental illness or substance-abuse problem live in states that haven't expanded Medicaid, the administration said Monday in a report that urges state Republicans to embrace Obamacare as a pathway to recovery and economic growth.

March 28, 2016