OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma set to dissolve after $5B sentence; Mayo Clinic AI detects pancreatic cancer years before diagnosis; results of FDA’s largest-ever infant formula test – Morning Medical Update

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma set to dissolve after $5B sentence

Purdue will permanently cease operations May 1, when its assets transfer to a newly formed company called Knoa Pharma.

Purdue Pharma was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, and ordered to pay more than $5 billion in criminal penalties, clearing the final legal hurdle for a sweeping settlement resolving thousands of opioid lawsuits. The company will permanently cease operations May 1, when substantially all of its assets transfer to Knoa Pharma, a new entity with a state-appointed board and a mission focused on combating the opioid crisis; millions of internal Purdue documents are also to be made public.

The Sackler family, which owns Purdue, agreed to contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years, most of which will go to government entities for opioid abatement. Payments to individual victims are expected to range from roughly $8,000 to $16,000.

The broader settlement, worth more than $50 billion across the industry, was approved by a bankruptcy judge in November. Outside the Newark courthouse, family members of overdose victims held photographs of their relatives on paper headstone cutouts, and many who gave impact statements urged the judge to reject the plea deal, arguing the settlement falls short of justice. The opioid crisis has been linked to more than 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999.

Mayo Clinic AI spots pancreatic cancer up to 3 years before diagnosis

The model identified 73% of prediagnostic cancers on routine CT scans — nearly double the detection rate of specialists reviewing the same images alone.

A Mayo Clinic-developed artificial intelligence (AI) model can detect signs of pancreatic cancer on routine abdominal CT scans up to three years before a clinical diagnosis. The full study is published in Gut. The system, called REDMOD, analyzed nearly 2,000 CT scans — including scans from patients later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had originally been read as normal — and identified 73% of those prediagnostic cases at a median of about 16 months before diagnosis. In scans taken more than two years before diagnosis, the AI identified nearly three times as many early cancers that would otherwise have gone undetected.

The model measures subtle changes in tissue texture and structure invisible to the naked eye, runs automatically on existing CT scans without additional preparation, and is designed to flag elevated risk before any visible tumor appears, particularly in high-risk patients such as those with new-onset diabetes.

FDA's largest-ever infant formula test finds most products meet safety standards

The agency tested more than 300 samples for lead, mercury, pesticides, PFAS and other contaminants, generating more than 120,000 data points.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released results from its largest-ever testing of infant formula sold in the U.S., finding that the overwhelming majority of samples had undetectable or very low levels of chemical contaminants including lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, pesticides, PFAS and phthalates. More than 300 samples, covering powders, ready-to-feed liquids and concentrated liquids, were tested across FDA laboratories as part of the agency's Operation Stork Speed and Closer to Zero initiatives.

While the agency said the overall results affirm the safety of the U.S. infant formula supply, it noted it will conduct additional testing, engage manufacturers on further reducing contaminant levels, and work to establish formal action levels for contaminants in infant formula. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to host a roundtable with infant formula company executives in May to discuss modernizing FDA oversight of the category.