Florida Sues Biden; Millions of J&J Shots Collecting Dust; Worst Fish in Pregnancy

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Florida is suing the Biden administration over the vaccine mandate for federal contractors, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) alleging the administration lacks such authority. (AP)

In other Florida news, the U.S. Department of Education filed a cease and desist complaint to Florida’s education department after it took funding from school districts issuing mask mandates. (The Hill)

A new bill passed in Iowa makes people fired for being unvaccinated eligible for unemployment benefits; it awaits the governor’s signature. (Des Moines Register)

CDC added mental health conditions, including depression and schizophrenia, as eligibility criteria for COVID-19 booster shots. (MarketWatch)

EcoHealth Alliance is pushing back against NIH’s assertion that it failed to comply with required reporting rules for risky coronavirus studies. (Wall Street Journal)

As many as 50 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine have been collecting dust in a Baltimore plant for months, waiting for the go-ahead to be shipped out. (Reuters)

As of 8 a.m. EDT on Friday, the unofficial COVID-19 toll in the U.S. was 45,827,172 cases and 743,369 deaths, increases of 122,085 and 2,127, respectively, from the same time yesterday.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is asking Pfizer and Moderna for more data on myocarditis risk; the agency also said it found insufficient evidence for a link between COVID-19 vaccines and rare cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome and will review rare incidents of capillary leak syndrome in Moderna recipients.

A former Texas nurse was sentenced to death after murdering four patients during heart surgery by injecting air into their arteries. (Fox News)

The FDA and EPA released new guidance on the best and worst fish choices for pregnant women and children.

Utah-based company Xlear is getting sued by the Federal Trade Commission for hawking saline nasal sprays falsely claiming to prevent and treat COVID-19.

Nearly 2,500 hospitals will be penalized by CMS for having high readmission rates, with an average penalty of a 0.64% cut in payment for every Medicare patient. (Kaiser Health News)

A new lawsuit filed yesterday by an Oregon Health & Science University doctor and advocacy group is challenging the state’s residency requirement for its medical-aid-in-dying law, arguing it should be open to people from other states. (OPB)

After being the sole candidate nominated by 28 countries, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, is slated to serve another 5-year term as World Health Organization head. (Reuters)

Spain is making a move to ban advertisements to kids on a slew of junk foods including chocolate, sweets, and ice cream in an effort to combat childhood obesity. (Reuters)

Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates opened up about her battle with invasive breast cancer. (CBS News)

Only 27% of parents said they’d take their 5- to 11-year-old kids to get vaccinated against COVID-19 right away if authorized, while about a third said they would take a wait-and-see approach, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (CNN)

How arbitrary — and out of control — are hospital bills these days? A $100,000 bill tells the story. (Wall Street Journal)