Patients still using MoistureLoc despite ReNu recall

Wednesday, 09 August 2006

Some patients are still using ReNu with MoistureLoc in spite of Bausch & Lomb’s worldwide ReNu recall in May 2006, a Nebraska doctor says. Dr. Michelle Gleason says that many of her patients were unaware that the contact lens solution they are using poses serious health risks to their eyes. Manufacturer Bausch & Lomb issued the ReNu recall after MoistureLoc was linked to a fungal infection outbreak of Fusarium keratitis symptoms. Cindy Branting, one of Dr. Gleason’s patients, began to have eye discomfort on June 24, 2006. A few days later, she experienced severe Fusarium keratitis symptoms, including intense pain in her eyes. “I couldn’t even function,” Branting says. “I couldn’t tell how bad it hurt. It felt like there were razor blades in my eye.” Although she herself works at a hospital, Branting says that she was unaware of the ReNu recall and had continued using MoistureLoc. After painful treatment with eye drops, Branting’s Fusarium keratitis symptoms went away without any lasting damage to her eyes. However, Dr. Gleason says that every patient who continued using MoistureLoc after the ReNu recall may not be so lucky. “I had a patient who had an infection and did OK with it, but I had a patient come in recently who was still using that solution,” Dr. Gleason says. “Sometimes people buy a lot at a time and they could be at risk. We want the public to be very aware of this situation.” Dr. Gleason says that patients who have used ReNu with MoistureLoc and are not experiencing any Fusarium keratitis symptoms—which include pain, sensitivity to light or intense itching—do not face any risk of developing an infection in the future as long as they have discontinued use. But she added that patients who experience even mild Fusarium keratitis symptoms need to see their eye doctor immediately. “Any time a patient has a red eye, they need to come in and be seen,” she says. “The earlier we catch this stuff, the better.”