Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
Restaurant calorie count requirement begins across U.S.
If calories count, then calorie counters will get a big boost Monday as one of Obamacare's big social changes kicks in: a requirement that chain restaurants, supermarkets and movie theaters begin posting information for all of their offerings. Published May 6, 2018
Obama endorses Sen. Dianne Feinstein for re-election
Former President Barack Obama on Friday endorsed Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for reelection to her California seat, giving the veteran legislator another dose of big-name support as she tries to fend off an upstart challenger from her left. Published May 4, 2018
House leaders want to advance opioids bills by May 17
The House Energy and Commerce Committee wants to advance its sweeping opioids plan within two weeks, splitting a legislative markup into two sessions to try and mollify Democrats who say majority Republicans are moving too fast. Published May 4, 2018
Liberals target GOP on anniversary of Obamacare repeal vote
House Republicans exactly a year ago were toasting their Obamacare repeal bill with beers, cheers and backslaps in a ceremony with President Trump in the White House Rose Garden. Published May 3, 2018
‘Deaths of despair’: Suicides, alcohol or drug-fueled deaths spike in U.S., study finds
Americans are increasingly succumbing to what researchers call "deaths of despair" -- suicides and alcohol- or drug-fueled deaths -- according to a study being released Thursday that paints a grim picture of health in the U.S. Published May 3, 2018
Surgeon General: Household naloxone access vital to opioid crisis solution
Naloxone has taken on almost mythic proportions in the effort to combat opioids. While it can't address the heart of an epidemic with roots in modern medical practice and rural poverty, it gives people with an addiction the chance to survive an overdose. Published May 1, 2018
Naloxone’s steep price hinders battle against opioid epidemic
Cost is one of the biggest hurdles in getting naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversing drug, into more hands. Published May 1, 2018
Tom Price: Repeal of Obamacare mandate will drive up costs
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Tuesday the GOP's decision to repeal Obamacare's individual mandate without a broader overhaul of the heath care system will likely increase costs on consumers who remain in the program. Published May 1, 2018
CDC chief request pay cut after $375K salary causes uproar
Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has requested and will receive a pay cut after a prominent Senate Democrat pressed the administration to explain why he was being paid far and above what previous directors received. Published April 30, 2018
Advocates take Gov. Paul LePage to court over Medicaid expansion
Medicaid expansion advocates in Maine asked a state court Monday to force Gov. Paul LePage's administration to carry out a voter-approved plan to cover 80,000 more state residents. Published April 30, 2018
Battle looms over cost of disposing unused prescription drugs
Gun buyback programs have proven so popular that the government is trying the same approach with drugs, asking people to turn in unused opioids, hoping to get them out of people's medicine cabinets before they are used to feed someone's addiction. Published April 26, 2018
Dems rally in support of $100B for opioids fight: ‘Talk is cheap’
Prominent Democrats rallied with advocates Thursday to push legislation that would spend $100 billion on the opioids epidemic over 10 years, saying "talk is cheap" and that Capitol Hill efforts to date don't match the extent of the crisis. Published April 26, 2018
Alex Azar back in D.C. after intestinal issue delayed his return from Indiana
Heath and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has returned to his office in Washington but is still recovering from an intestinal condition that resulted in two brief hospital stays in Indiana last week, the agency said Wednesday. Published April 25, 2018
JUUL, maker of popular e-cigarettes, invests $30M in youth awareness
JUUL, the company that makes an e-cigarette popular with teenagers, said Wednesday it supports efforts to raise the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21 and will invest $30 million over three years in strategies to prevent youth from taking up its products. Published April 25, 2018
Senate panel advances sweeping opioids bill
The Senate Health Committee advanced opioid legislation Tuesday that would facilitate the government's ability to seize and destroy deadly fentanyl as it comes into the U.S. and speed safer painkillers to market to try to curtail the spread of addition. Published April 24, 2018
FDA cracks down on sale of JUUL, popular e-cigs among kids
An undercover crackdown on the sale of a popular brand of e-cigarettes to minors revealed numerous violations, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. Published April 24, 2018
Insurers’ lobby asks Trump to curtail short-term insurance plan
Health insurers, patient groups and Senate Democrats implored the Trump administration Monday to curb or cancel its push to let Americans get around Obamacare by using cheaper, short-term health plans for a full year, saying the plan would destabilize the insurance markets and increase the number of uninsured. Published April 23, 2018
New Jersey poised to add Obamacare mandate
Obamacare's individual mandate requiring all Americans to have health coverage is about to disappear next year. But New Jersey is poised to slap it back on its residents. Published April 22, 2018
Donald Trump: Kim Jong-un’s nuclear, missile test suspension is progress
Citing North Korea's pledge to suspend missile and nuclear tests, President Trump says efforts to compel the secretive nation to abandon its nuclear weapons program are starting to pay off -- though he acknowledged Sunday that talks with Kim Jong-un still have a long way to go. Published April 22, 2018
Bob Corker: Hard to ‘charm’ North Korea out of nuclear ambitions
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said Sunday it is unrealistic to think the U.S. can "charm" North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un into giving up his nuclear ambitions. Published April 22, 2018
