Users of contact lenses seek alternatives to ReNu

Tuesday, 01 August 2006

After it was shown that Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc can cause a serious eye infection, concerns grew about the safety of all multi-purpose contact lens solutions. Some longtime users of contact lenses might resume wearing glasses or even having laser eye surgery to overcome the issue altogether. But optometrists and opthalmologists insist the picture is not so bleak. The alternatives might not be as convenient or as cheap as multi-purpose contact lens solutions like ReNu, but they are undoubtedly safer. “We’re seeing much more vigilance, and patients are asking what they can do to prevent these infections,” says Dr. Jack Schaeffer of Birmingham, Alabama. In the United States, more than 30 million people wear contact lenses, and 80% of them use soft lenses. They may need to go back to the safer three-part process: (1) rubbing a cleanser on the lens, (2) a soaking solution disinfects them overnight and (3) a saline solution is used for rinsing. The first step, rubbing, might be the key, according to optometrist Joseph Barr: “We’ve never stopped recommending rubbing here. This isn’t like scrubbing your bathtub. It’s just a gentle rub on the surface of the lens.” Doctors also recommend that consumers completely empty and clean their lens cases after every use before filling it with new solution. Not doing so would only help the growth of microbial content. They also advocate the frequent replacement of lens cases, perhaps as often as monthly. ReNu with MoistureLoc was the subject of a very public debate for nearly two years until Bausch & Lomb finally issued a ReNu recall in May. Before then, hundreds of people in Asia and the U.S. came down with the Fusarium keratitis infection, whose side effects range from blurry vision to glaucoma to blindness. There have been several class action ReNu lawsuits filed as well.