Vicora raises $3.6M for groundbreaking clot removal technology
Buffalo-based Vicora secures millions in funding to continue development of a new catheter system for treating vascular diseases.
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Indianapolis Star
5 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
FDA: More cucumbers, ready-to-eat products recalled in growing salmonella outbreak
A Maryland food company has recalled specific salsa and cucumber products because they were made with cucumbers that are possibly contaminated with salmonella. TGD Cuts, LLC of Jessup, Maryland, is recalling some tub and tray products because they contained cucumbers from Boynton Beach, Florida-based Bedner Growers Inc., which have been linked to a salmonella outbreak. TGD Cuts distributed the affected products, which included salsas, sliced cucumbers and cucumber spears, to retail and foodservice locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and North Carolina, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The products had use-by dates ranging from May 20 to May 28 and are unlikely to be in stores or being used. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the products, the FDA said. Egg recall: Brown eggs sold at some Walmart stores have salmonella risk The initial May 19 recall involved cucumbers sold directly to consumers at Bednar's Farm Fresh Market, according to notices published May 19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA. Subsequent recalls have been announced by grocers such as Harris Teeter, Kroger and Walmart for repackaged cucumbers for resale under different brand names or those used in ready-to-eat products, including vegetable trays and salads. The cucumbers, distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales of Delray, Florida, also led to Target recalling individual cucumbers on May 30, specifically cucumber two-packs and various prepared foods products. In addition to the growing cucumber-related recall, other products have been recalled recently for potential salmonella contamination. The FDA on May 28 upgraded a recall of tomatoes distributed in three southern states to a Class I recall, meaning consumption of the food could cause serious health complications or lead to death. Then, on June 6, the CDC and FDA linked brown eggs sold in nine states – including at some Walmart stores – to an ongoing Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak, in which 79 people have been sickened and at least 21 hospitalized. Customers who purchased any products from TGD Cuts should get rid of them or return them for a full refund. Here is the list of products recalled due to a possible salmonella risk. Salmonella poisoning causes about 1.35 million illnesses, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths each year in the U.S., according to the CDC and FDA. Symptoms, which include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps, will usually occur six hours to six days after exposure and may last up to seven days. Symptoms from severe infections may include aches, headaches, elevated fever, lethargy, rashes, and blood in urine or stool. Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @ & @mikesnider & msnider@
Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Will Trump's policies kill Massachusetts' life sciences leadership?
Advertisement Although the industry is centered in eastern Massachusetts, there's a statewide benefit from all the tax dollars those businesses and workers pay. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up In all, Massachusetts organizations — including universities, research institutes, and hospitals — received $3.5 billion in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Massachusetts-headquartered companies raised $3.26 billion in venture capital funding. Among all drugs in the development pipeline in the United States, 15 percent were being made by companies headquartered in Massachusetts. But actions taken by President Trump and his administration — cutting funding for scientific research and universities, flirting with tariffs, fanning skepticism about vaccines — threaten to devastate the ecosystem. Today, the industry is at a precipice, and uncertainty abounds. Some companies are already feeling the pinch of terminated federal grants, while others are anxious about what might come. Taken together, Trump's policies could force some companies and scientists to take their money, talents, and products overseas. Advertisement Christopher Locher, CEO of Lowell-based Versatope Therapeutics, which develops a platform to deliver vaccines and therapeutics, said he worries the Greater Boston life sciences ecosystem is 'being flushed down the toilet.' For example, Trump is Trump's funding cuts are already having a large impact on some local companies. Part of the problem is the Trump administration isn't only cutting funding, but it's picking which technologies to fund — in some cases apparently based on politics more than science. Take flu vaccines. The Trump administration recently announced a $500 million campaign to fund the development of a universal flu vaccine, which doesn't require annual updates, using technology being worked on But simultaneously, he cut funding for other work on a universal flu vaccine. Versatope Therapeutics got $14 million in NIH funding and spent five years developing a universal flu vaccine. It had approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials when Trump terminated the contract's remaining $8 million, with the reason given being 'convenience,' Locher said. Trump also Advertisement Company executives say decisions by Trump officials to disinvest in vaccine-related technology — and concerns about whether government will approve new technology — means it's nearly impossible to find private investment funding to replace lost federal dollars. 'We're faced with bankruptcy in the very near future,' Locher said. Ironically, given Trump's stated commitment to bringing businesses back to the United States, one potential option Locher is eyeing is opening a subsidiary abroad. Conducting clinical trials would be cheaper in another country, whether in Europe, Australia, or China, Locher said, and some countries are offering financial incentives to American companies to relocate. Companies also face a potential workforce brain drain. There have been MassBio officials said China has less rigorous — but faster — safety and research protocols than the US. Australia allows a faster timeline for clinical trials. If regulatory approval of medicines is held up because the FDA is understaffed, companies may seek European regulatory approval instead. The loss of talent to foreign countries will be compounded if the pipeline of local university graduates dries up. One draw for life sciences companies to Boston/Cambridge is the presence of elite schools like Harvard and MIT, with their potential for faculty collaboration and skilled graduates. Advertisement Trump is trying to Chip Clark, CEO at Vibrant Biomedicines in Cambridge, said cuts to university research funding both 'shrink the pipeline of great ideas' that form the basis for many biotech startups and translate to fewer available scientists. Clark said the administration's policies 'seem like a deliberate attempt to try to cede scientific leadership to Europe and Japan and Korea and China. ... They will be delighted to capitalize on our talent, technology, and investment capital to make their robust biotech sectors grow and ultimately compete successfully against the US industry,' he said. Don Ingber, founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, said he has postdocs with US visas applying for jobs in Europe, and others who were accepted to work at Harvard but are going elsewhere. 'The fact that places like Harvard and MIT and American universities are magnets for the best and brightest from around the world is what's driven our technology economy and certainly the Boston/Cambridge ecosystem,' Ingber said. 'With this uncertainty, I fear we'll lose a generation.' Ingber, who was forced to stop work on two government-funded projects on drugs designed to prevent injury from radiation exposure, compared administration policies to 'eating seed corn' needed to grow crops. Advertisement Trump's vendetta will undermine one of the most vibrant state economies in the country and set back American science by years. And it's not just eastern Massachusetts that will pay a price; the entire country will. As Ingber noted, it might take years to see the impact of medicines or technologies that aren't developed because of these shortsighted cuts. Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Medical schools training providers to promote gun safety
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The U.S. Surgeon General declared gun violence a public health crisis in the United States in June of last year. In response to this — as well as the Tops mass shooting — the Jacobs School of Medicine at the University at Buffalo hosted a conference Saturday focused on reducing firearm-related deaths through public health initiatives. The 'Remembrance Conference' brought together healthcare professionals, students, educators and community members to explore the physician's role in preventing gun violence. Now in its third year, the event was co-founded by Dr. Allison Brashear, dean of UB's Jacobs School of Medicine, and Dr. Aron Sousa, dean of Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine. Both leaders were motivated to act following mass shootings that deeply affected their communities — the 2022 racist attack at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, and the 2023 shooting on the Michigan State campus in East Lansing. 'The victims of gun violence and their families are a significant part of this crisis, but also it is about the people who take care of the patients and their families,' Brashear said. Speakers at the conference encouraged physicians to discuss gun safety with patients during routine medical visits, likening it to other preventive health conversations such as smoking or mental health screening. 'It turns out that talking to your physician is a really important part of public health,' Sousa said. 'We can successfully encourage people to quit smoking, and we can encourage people to store their guns safely at home.' The conference covered a wide range of topics, including suicide prevention, mental health, advocacy training and the healthcare system's broader responsibility in reducing gun-related injuries and deaths. 'You can work on laws and public policy, but you can also work on how doctors and the whole healthcare team respond, both after there's been a crisis and before,' Brashear said. Dr. Rob Gore, a Brooklyn emergency medicine physician, UB graduate, and author of 'Treating Violence: An Emergency Room Doctor Takes on a Deadly American Epidemic,' said physicians must be more than just responders. 'Part of the work in practicing medicine is not just treating a patient's physical injuries,' Gore said. 'It's about preventing them from becoming patients in the first place.' Organizers stressed that while mass shootings draw the most attention, they account for only about 1% of gun-related incidents in the U.S. The majority involve domestic violence, suicides, accidental discharges, and improperly secured firearms. Brashear noted that gun violence is now the leading cause of death among teens and young children in the country, reinforcing the need for a healthcare-led approach to prevention. Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
