Bausch & Lomb failed to properly test ReNu, study says

Tuesday, 29 January 2008

A new study has revealed that Bausch & Lomb failed to test its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution on the kind of microbes found in the real world. Due to this inadequate testing, the company did not figure out that ReNu with MoistureLoc was unable to kill a dangerous type of fungus until hundreds of users had already become infected and begun to suffer ReNu side effects. Bausch & Lomb issued a ReNu recall for ReNu with MoistureLoc in May 2006 after it was linked to an outbreak of the fungal eye infection Fusarium keratitis. A number of patients were forced to undergo cornea transplants in order to repair the damage to their eyesight caused by Fusarium keratitis. According to the new study, the Fusarium keratitis outbreak was caused in part by the way that the microbes sometimes grouped themselves together in the real world to form a glue-like material known as biofilms. These biofilms are much more resistant to contact lens solutions than normal microbes and are also immune to the body’s defense system. However, because Bausch & Lomb failed to test ReNu with MoistureLoc on microbes that can produce biofilms, they did not discover that the contact solution was useless at treating them under real-world condition. As a result, hundreds of patients developed Fusarium keratitis infections, leading to an outbreak of ReNu side effects among users. The researchers involved with the study say that they had suspected that biofilms might have played a role in the Fusarium keratitis outbreak at the time of the ReNu recall, but were unable to prove so until now. They say that contact lens solution manufacturers must ensure that their products are effective against biofilms in order to prevent future incidents like the ReNu side effects outbreak.