COVID Funds Held Ransom; Testing Positive After Booster? $80,000 Ectopic Pregnancy

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Republican lawmakers in Oklahoma are withholding federal pandemic relief funds to one of the state’s largest health systems until it agrees to stop offering gender-affirming care. (Washington Post)

Doctors are urging the FDA to add miscarriage management to the label for the abortion pill mifepristone (Mifeprex). (Reuters)

Providence hospital system said it will refund payments to more than 700 low-income patients who should not have been charged by the large nonprofit for their medical care. (New York Times)

Can you test positive from a COVID booster? NPR answers this and other reader questions.

Even just a moderately successful fall booster campaign could prevent over 75,000 deaths and 745,000 hospitalizations over the next 6 months, according to a new analysis from the Commonwealth Fund.

Five cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported in Vermont, including 1 death. (AP)

Public health officials are predicting a more severe flu season, and the CDC is urging everyone 6 months and older to get vaccinated. (CBS News)

In abortion news, the Arizona Medical Association has filed a lawsuit to clarify the state’s laws, after an injunction was lifted on a near-total ban passed in 1901. (ABC News)

And Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s former chief operating officer, jumps into the fray, donating $3 million to the American Civil Liberties Union to help stop abortion bans across the country. (Axios)

Plus, here’s how one woman’s ectopic pregnancy led to $80,000 in medical charges. (Kaiser Health News)

A multimodal pain management protocol reduced postoperative opioids in arthroscopic knee or shoulder surgery patients, a randomized trial showed. (JAMA)

Scientists have discovered a new set of blood groups. (Wired)

Could an artificial intelligence model that uses MRI scans help predict breast cancer risk and reduce unnecessary biopsies? (STAT)

Breast cancer death rates have fallen over the last 30 years, but racial disparities linger, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.

Meanwhile, shortsightedness appears to be increasing globally. (BBC)

Blech! Michiganders are being warned off eating produce from Kuntry Gardens after routine inspections found they had been using untreated human waste for fertilizer. (MLive.com)

In Missouri, two medical researchers from South America were found dead following an apartment fire, and now a homicide investigation is underway. (Kansas City Star)

Eating earlier in the day may be better for your health. (NBC News)

“Best-before” labels are being reconsidered amid increased worries over food waste. (AP)

And could white rice be as bad for heart health as candy? (New York Post)