Two NY women file ReNu lawsuit

Monday, 18 December 2006

Two women who contracted an eye infection after using Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution have filed a lawsuit against the company. Yomaira Santiago and Melissa Ippolito of Staten Island, New York say in their ReNu lawsuit that the contact lens solution caused them to be diagnosed with the fungal infection Fusarium keratitis, which caused both to lose some vision in one eye. Santiago says that she began using ReNu with MoistureLoc in March 2005. In July of that year, she developed Fusarium keratitis symptoms, which eventually forced her to have a cornea transplant in her right eye. She now suffers from “significant loss of vision,” according to her ReNu lawsuit. At least 59 people who used ReNu with MoistureLoc have required a cornea transplant because of Fusarium keratitis symptoms. Ippolito was diagnosed with Fusarium keratitis in December 2005 after first using ReNu with MoistureLoc in February of that year. Although her Fusarium keratitis symptoms were treated with anti-fungal therapy, she says that she suffered cornea scarring because of her infection. Both women blame Bausch & Lomb for the injuries they suffered after using ReNu with MoistureLoc. Many of the patients who have filed ReNu lawsuits against the company allege that Bausch & Lomb should have moved faster to withdraw the contact lens solution after it was linked with an outbreak of Fusarium keratitis symptoms in Asia in late 2005. Although Bausch & Lomb withdrew ReNu with MoistureLoc from Asian store shelves in February, the company did not pull the solution from U.S. shelves until April 2006 and did not issue a worldwide ReNu recall until a month later. The Food and Drug Administration has criticized Bausch & Lomb for its slow reaction to the outbreak of Fusarium keratitis symptoms and in issuing the ReNu recall. Officials in Singapore say the efforts of their scientists to draw attention to the infection outbreak may have saved the eyesight of many contact lens wearers in that country. Donald Tan of the Singapore National Eye Center says that only five out of 68 patients in Singapore who were infected with Fusarium keratitis required cornea transplants; in the U.S., about one-third required transplants, he says. The ReNu attorney for Santiago and Ippolito says that Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc caused them to suffer because of their eye infections. “The lives of both of these women have been severely impacted as a result of using the solution, as have the lives of many other victims,” says ReNu lawyer Jason Mark. “The solution clearly has a problem with its formulation that has led to an increased incidence of infection.” ReNu attorneys expect that as many as 1,000 people will seek damages in ReNu lawsuits.