Founder Profile
National Health Laboratories
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Background
Revlon-owned and later MacAndrews & Forbes-controlled US clinical laboratory chain.
Founding Story
National Health Laboratories started as DCL BioMedical, a clinical laboratory business founded in 1968. Revlon acquired it in 1971 and renamed it in 1974; by 1977 it ran testing labs in 13 cities. It went public on NASDAQ in 1988, moved to the NYSE in 1991, and in 1995 combined with Roche Biomedical Laboratories to form Labcorp. James B. Powell, MD, led NHL and became the first CEO of the merged company.