Study faults ReNu in fungal outbreak

Wednesday, 23 August 2006

A study published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association (JAMA) has found a strong link between Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution and an outbreak of the fungal infection Fusarium keratitis that hit contact lens users earlier this year. “We found that overwhelmingly MoistureLoc contact lens solution posed a high risk,” says Dr. Benjamin Park, part of the team investigating ReNu. The study reveals that ReNu users were 20 times as likely as non-users to develop an infection. Although Bausch & Lomb has repeatedly claimed that poor hygiene on the part of ReNu users was responsible for the Fusarium outbreak, the JAMA study refutes that. Instead, the report says, ReNu was unable to properly disinfect the lenses it was used on, allowing the Fusarium fungus to grow and infect contact lens wearers. More than one-third of those infected have had or will require transplants to repair their damaged corneas. While Bausch & Lomb issued a ReNu recall in May, there have been more than 100 confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis infection caused by ReNu in the United States alone. Legal experts say that Bausch & Lomb could face upwards of $1 billion in ReNu lawsuits as more patients whose eyes were damaged by ReNu come forward.