Contact lens fluid pulled

Baush and Lomb stopped sales of MoistureLoc on April 13.

Fusarium Keratitis has been found in 122 contact lens users in the US and has been detected in the far east and Europe. Left untreated, the fungus can cause blindness. Eight US patients have had cornea transplants due to the disease.

The withdrawal is a safety measure although federal inspections at the Bauch and Lomb factory in South Carolina have not found any evidence of contamination, tampering, counterfeiting or sterility failure.

Smith Robertson’s marketing director Michele Stagg said the company had stopped selling MoistureLoc last month after notification from Baush and Lomb.

Pharmacies which had the product also returned their unsold supplies since they could not sell them. “It is just a question of advising formally so whoever still has the product will know,” Stagg said.

At the Bausch and Lomb website, a release from the Food and Drug Administration, US Department for Health and Human Services stated that a meeting took place on March 11 between administration officials and a team from Bauch and Lomb to share information on the company’s internal investigations into cases of Fusarium Keratitis.

Baush and Lomb officials “proposed certain unique characteristics can increase the risk” of the fungal eye infection and based on this decided to withdraw Renu MoistureLoc worldwide.