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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

This Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

GAO: VA has room to improve in opioid treatment

The Veterans Affairs Department is doing a good job of slashing the use of opioids among veterans but is falling short on safety measures, such as checking whether patients have been prescribed addictive pills elsewhere, a government watchdog reported Tuesday.

May 29, 2018
Peter Salama, left, deputy director-general for Emergency Preparedness and Response of WHO, sits next to Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Elhadj As Sy, right, as they inform the media about IFRC's and WHO's response on Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during a press conference, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, May 29, 2018. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

WHO claims success in Ebola vaccination effort in Congo

The World Health Organization on Tuesday said 400 people have been vaccinated against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and there hasn't been an explosion of cases, making officials "cautiously optimistic" about the arc of the outbreak.

May 29, 2018
The World Health Organization counts 58 cases and 27 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo's outbreak of Ebola, which is transmitted from wild animals to people and spreads human-to-human via the bodily fluids of infected people. WHO officials said they are worried about a fast spread of the deadly disease to other population centers. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

CDC officials take precautions as Ebola outbreak spreads

With Ebola once again flaring up in an African country, U.S. health officials have briefed border officers about potential danger from travelers, and U.S. airports are beginning to issue warnings about the deadly disease.

May 28, 2018
President Donald Trump speaks before signing the "Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act," in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, May 24, 2018, in Washington (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

American Medical Assoc. slams Trump’s Title X proposal

The nation's top doctors' lobby condemned President Trump's push to create a firewall between federal funds for family planning and abortion services, saying Thursday it amounts to a "gag order" that will intrude on the doctor-patient relationship.

May 24, 2018
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., emerges from the chamber just after key conservatives in the rebellious House Freedom Caucus helped to kill passage of the farm bill which had been a priority for GOP leaders, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, May 18, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

House panel advances GOP welfare-reform bill

The House Ways and Means Committee approved Thursday a massive overhaul of the country's welfare system that would push more people on the public dole to look for work, hoping to wean them off benefits altogether.

May 24, 2018
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, Texas Republican. (Associated Press/File)

GOP welfare reform on track in House

Republicans rejected Democrats' efforts Wednesday to increase money for job training or child care for those on welfare, keeping their massive reform bill on track for approval in a key committee.

May 23, 2018
FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2015, file photo, Dan Diaz holds a photo of his late wife, Brittany Maynard, taken on their wedding day, during a rally calling for California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign right-to-die legislation at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. A California judge on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, threw out a 2016 state law allowing the terminally ill to end their lives, ruling it was unconstitutionally approved by the Legislature. Maynard moved to Oregon from California to legally end her life in 2014. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

House passes ‘Right to Try’ bill for dying patients

The House passed a bill Tuesday that lets dying patients try medicines that haven't won full regulatory approval, handing President Trump the bipartisan win he had demanded during his State of the Union speech this year.

May 22, 2018
In this photo taken Monday, May 14, 2018, members of a Red Cross team don protective clothing before heading out to look for suspected victims of Ebola, in Mbandaka, Congo. (Karsten Voigt/International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies via AP) ** FILE **

Ebola outbreak isn’t a global emergency yet: WHO

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not considered a global health emergency -- at least not yet, the World Health Organization announced Friday, saying it is hopeful it can stamp out the widening outbreak despite fear the disease will travel along the Congo River "highway" to major capitals.

May 18, 2018
Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, of Oregon, asks a question during a hearing of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, about combating the opioid epidemic, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Opioid bills advanced by House Energy and Commerce Committee

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved dozens of bills that would help the FDA intercept drugs at ports, expand addiction treatment and otherwise combat the opioid epidemic, clearing the way for final passage by early summer.

May 17, 2018
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb listens during an interview with The Associated Press in New York on Monday, March 5, 2018. Gottlieb said Monday that he needs more staffers to intercept opioids that are being disguised as other drugs and supplements. (AP Photo/Kathy Young)

FDA calls out companies who block generic makers

Moving to implement President Trump's drug-pricing plan, the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday started naming brand-name drug makers who shut out competition by preventing generic makers from obtaining samples of their product.

May 17, 2018
In this photo taken on Sunday, May 13, 2018, a health care worker wears virus protective gear at a treatment center in Bikoro Democratic Republic of Congo. Congo's latest Ebola outbreak has spread to a city of more than 1 million people, a worrying shift as the deadly virus risks traveling more easily in densely populated areas. Two suspected cases of hemorrhagic fever were reported in the Wangata health zones that include Mbandaka, the capital of northwestern Equateur province. The city is about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Bikoro, the rural area where the outbreak was announced last week, said Congo's Health Minister Oly Ilunga. (AP Photo/John Bompengo)

WHO says Ebola outbreak spread to Congo city

Officials have discovered a case of the deadly Ebola virus in a port city of 1 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sparking fears Thursday the latest outbreak has broken out of the remote rural areas where it started and could spiral out of control.

May 17, 2018
In this Jan. 21, 2018, photo, lights shine inside the U.S. Capitol Building as night falls in Washington, and Congress continues to negotiate during the federal government shutdown. The deal that ended the government shutdown also further cut taxes, adding billions more to the national deficit. The tax cuts were a little noticed element of the much discussed deal, which provided funding to keep government agencies operating for about three weeks and renewed a popular health insurance program for poor children. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

Bill aims to stop shipping of opioids through U.S. mail

The House Ways and Means Committee advanced legislation Wednesday to require shippers sending packages into the U.S. to provide more data on what's being sent — part of an effort in Congress to close down a major pipeline delivering illegal synthetic opioids across the country.

May 16, 2018