Happy Friday, readers!
The e-cigarette reckoning is raging on as market titan Juul announced it will voluntarily stop selling flavored vape pods (other than plain old tobacco and menthol) ahead of an impending ban.
This was, perhaps, inevitable. The Trump administration had already proposed a similar ban on all flavored pods. Juul’s decision isn’t quite as stringent, although that may be temporary.
“We continue to review our policies and practices in advance of FDA’s flavor guidance and have not made any final decisions,” said the company in a statement. “We are refraining from lobbying the administration on its draft flavor guidance and will fully support and comply with the final policy when effective.”
Stay tuned for a much deeper look into the future of the vaping industry and Big Tobacco in the coming week.
Read on for the day’s news, and have a wonderful weekend.
Sy Mukherjee, @the_sy_guy, sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
DIGITAL HEALTH
Microsoft wants to make the "exam room of the future." Microsoft has teamed up with Nuance Communications to create an AI-driven "exam room of the future" that could simplify the electronic records communication process. The technology aims to bring "ambient clinical intelligence to exam rooms, allowing ambient sensing and conversational AI to take care of some of the more burdensome administrative tasks and to provide clinical documentation that writes itself," according to Microsoft. (Microsoft Blog)
INDICATIONS
Johnson & Johnson recalls baby powder lot over asbestos concerns. J&J has recalled one lot of talc baby powder after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found traces of asbestos, a well-known carcinogen, in some Baby Powder products. The recall involves 33,000 bottles. (Reuters)
THE BIG PICTURE
A correction on Ancestry's health tests. Apologies for the mistake—but an Ancestry spokesperson clarified, regarding our piece this week on its health genetic testing plans, that the company can sell them directly to consumers (albeit via a different channel from 23andMe). It's the difference between "direct-to-consumer" sales versus "laboratory developed tests"; while both companies can sell their products to consumers, in Ancestry's case, the process "includes filling out a health history questionnaire" before "an independent group of board-certified physicians and genetic counselors review the answers and, if approved, order the health test and review results when they are ready."
REQUIRED READING
Remembering Mark Hurd, Oracle's Brash Co-CEO, by Adam Lashinsky
Is Airbnb WeWorks' Next Victim? by Polina Marinova
For the NBA, Daryl Morey Is an Especially Inconvenient Person to Have Angered China, by Joan Niesen
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