Bausch & Lomb may face 1,000 ReNu lawsuits

Thursday, 14 December 2006

As the many ReNu lawsuits facing Bausch & Lomb over its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution make their way to court, legal experts are saying that more could be on the way. Some ReNu lawyers expect that as many as 1,000 ReNu lawsuits could eventually be filed. These ReNu lawsuits allege that Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc caused patients to contract the fungal eye infection Fusarium keratitis. These patients say that they were injured as a result of their Fusarium keratitis symptoms, suffering anything from cornea scarring, vision loss and, in some cases, blindness. About one-third of ReNu with MoistureLoc customers in the U.S. who contracted the eye infection will eventually require a cornea transplant because of their Fusarium keratitis symptoms. Analyst David Maris of Bank of America Securities says that ReNu lawsuits may eventually cost Bausch & Lomb as much as $1 billion in damages. The company has reduced its earnings forecast for this year by 78%, because of its declining market share in the contact lens solution market and potential damages and legal fees from ReNu lawsuits. Many experts, including those at the Food and Drug Administration, have criticized Bausch & Lomb for its slow reaction in issuing a ReNu recall. Although the first cases of Fusarium keratitis were reported to Bausch & Lomb by Hong Kong health officials in October 2005, the company did not issue a ReNu recall until May 2006. So far, there have been at least 180 confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. At least 120 additional cases of infection have been recorded by officials in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and China. One group of Chinese citizens says that it may file a ReNu lawsuit against Bausch & Lomb in the U.S.