McConnell says he asked nominee for Health and Human Services secretary to make fighting opioid epidemic a top priority

McConnell and Azar (McConnell office photo)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met Wednesday with Alex Azar, whom President Trump has nominated to succeed Tom Price, who resigned, as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Azar is a former deputy secretary of HHS and a pharmaceutical manufactiring executive.

“Alex and I had a productive meeting,” McConnell said in a news release. “We discussed his outlook and vision for a department that oversees some of the nation’s most important programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health. I also asked him to make combating the opioid epidemic, which has devastated families across Kentucky and the nation, a top priority.”