South Carolina Lawyer Blog
The Associated Press reported on May 26, 2007 that government officials are warning people to throw away AMO Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Solution, used for cleaning and storing soft contact lenses, after an investigation linked it to a rare eye infection. The solution is made by Advanced Medical Optics Inc., a publicly traded company based in Santa Ana, California.
The solution appears to be a factor in cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis, a painful eye infection that can lead to permanent vision loss or blindness.
The CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating 138 confirmed cases.
CDC officials said people should discard the solution, throw out their current contact lenses and lens storage case, which may harbor the infecting disease.
Doctors first suspected a problem in 2004, when a University of Illinois-Chicago ophthalmologist, Dr. Elmer Tu, noticed more than a dozen cases of the infection.
UIC investigators think the cleaning solution is not protecting people from the infection which they get in their eyes through showering or swimming, Tu said.
The solution is not marketed to protect against the amoeba. But “it’s supposed to be free of any type of microorganisms. It’s not supposed to result in anyone getting an infection,” said Julie Zawisza, an FDA spokeswoman.
This is the second investigation into eye infections associated with contact lens solution undertaken by the CDC and FDA in the past year. In 2006, a Bausch & Lomb multipurpose contact lens solution was linked to a fungal eye infection called Fusarium.
If you or loved one has suffered an eye infection from a contact lens solution or other defective product, please speak with a Columbia product liability attorney at Louthian Law Firm.