Morning Headlines 11/30/17

Nuance Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2017

Nuance releases Q4 results: adjusted revenue fell to $466 million, compared to $506.2 during the same quarter last year, adjusted EPS -$0.23 vs. $0.06, beating estimates on both and driving share prices up 3.2 percent in after hours trading. In its financial statements, the company noted that costs associated with its NotPetya cyberattack totaled $53 million in Q4, less than the $65 – $75 million range it initially estimated.

Is It Time for a New Medical Specialty? The Medical Virtualist

An article in JAMA proposes creating a medical virtualist specialty that would focus primarily on providing telehealth-based services.

Medicare Part D Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool

CMS releases new data visualizations showing geo-located Medicare Part D opioid prescribing rates from 2013 to 2015 with additional information on extended-release opioid prescribing rates and spatial analyses to identify “hot spots.”

Remarks by Dr. Gottlieb at FDA’s Generic Drug Science Day

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD says the agency is approving record numbers of generic drugs in its push to speed up the “approval of safe, high-quality, and more affordable generic drugs.”