Bausch & Lomb Inc. ran ads Friday urging that consumers use other contact lens cleaners made by the company, such as ReNu MultiPlus, rather than one withdrawn after being linked to an infection that can cause blindness.
The company late Thursday said it was withdrawing ReNu with MoistureLoc in the United States and offering refunds to consumers. A full-page color advertisement in the USA Today newspaper also said the product had not been proven as a cause of the infection, only that there was a "disproportionate association" between it and "a small number of events."
"I am sorry for any inconvenience or anxiety this situation has caused," Chief Executive Officer Ron Zarrella wrote in a section of the ad designed to look like a letter.
The ad campaign, set to run in 11 U.S. markets, may blunt criticism from marketing specialists and a medical ethicist who said this week the 153-year-old optical products maker wasn't doing enough to inform the nation's 30 million wearers of
contact lenses. Bausch & Lomb stopped shipping the cleaner April 10 when U.S. health officials said it was probing 109 reports of a rare fungal eye infection linked to the product's use.
On Thursday, the Rochester, N.Y.-based company asked that drugstores and supermarkets remove the solution from shelves, an action many, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Walgreen Co., Albertson's Inc. and CVS Corp., had already taken.
In a section of the ad that lists six questions and answers, Bausch & Lomb urged that consumers who use the withdrawn product switch to the company's ReNu MultiPlus, ReNu Multi-Purpose cleaners or "another respected brand."
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04-17-2006, 01:28 PM
Contact Lens Ads Defend Cleaner
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