Fungus Reports Put Contact Solution on Hold

Archives Admin · #1 (**permalink**) 04-18-2006, 11:08 AM

Contact lens wearers who are still using Bausch & Lomb's ReNu with MoistureLoc solution should find a substitute immediately, area eye doctors are urging.

Last week, federal health officials found a possible link between the product and a potentially blinding eye fungus that has been increasing in the United States. As a result, Bausch & Lomb voluntarily suspended shipments of the solution, and doctors and optical chains around the world have halted sales.

Doctors in the metro-east have followed suit. On Monday, for example, the staff at Performance Eyecare in Belleville carried all of its ReNu stock to the trash. At the same time, doctors were offering patients a free sample of an alternative while cautioning them on proper handling of contacts.

Still, officials stress that there is no direct evidence linking ReNu to the infections.

"This recent news is cause for concern, but not for alarm," said area optometrist Dr. Dirk Massie. "We want our patients to be aware there is a problem out there and that the details are unfolding as we speak."

Concern has been increasing since June, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began seeing an outbreak of severe corneal infections that had been associated with contact lens wearers in Asia.

Known as Fusarium keratitis, the infection -- if left untreated -- can cause permanent vision and require a corneal transplant. In the past 10 months, 109 people in 17 states have been diagnosed with the infection; eight have required transplants. Treatment includes anti-fungal medications.

Federal and state officials have interviewed only 30 of those patients. However, of the 28 who wore soft contact lenses, 26 said they used the ReNu solution with MoistureLoc or a generic type of solution also made by the Bausch & Lomb.

At the same time, five of the 26 said they had used other types of solutions in addition to ReNu. Nine said they wore their lenses overnight, which is known to increase the risk of infection, the CDC said.

"The CDC data ... are both troubling and perplexing, as there is an apparent disproportion representation of U.S.-manufactured ReNu with MoistureLoc in the underlying data," said Ronald Zarrella, chairman of Bausch & Lomb, which suspended ReNu shipments from its Greenville, S.C., plant. "The source of these infections has not been determined."

Dr. Daniel Schultz of the Food and Drug Administration agreed that it is too early to blame the infections on the use of ReNu. Company and government scientists have looked at more than 100 possible factors from ingredients to packaging and have found no smoking gun.

ReNu went on the market in late 2004 and generated sales of about $45 million last year. About 30 million Americans wear soft contact lenses.

"We are relatively early in this investigation," Schultz said. "It may be we will find this particular product does not have an association."

Until then, Massie urges contact wearers to take extra precautions in handling their lenses (see tips on C1).

"We want to make sure contact lens wearers are taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves in this interim period as information becomes available," Massie said.

"It is imperative that contact lens users practice safe handling of their contact lenses, are aware of any potential vision problems and alert their (doctor) as they occur."

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Fungus Reports Put Contact Solution on Hold

Contact Lenses