Malaysia orders safety check on contact lens solution

AFP, March, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysia ordered all contact lens solution companies to prove the safety of their products after concerns about a series of fungal eye infections similar to those in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The health ministry's director-general, Ismail Merican, said the ministry had met manufacturers to make the request.

"We are asking all of them to give us evidence of safety within a week," Ismail told AFP.

A major eye hospital has reported 14 cases of corneal infections since early this year, all of them related to contact lens solution.

The health ministry has said patients in six of the 14 cases had used a brand called ReNu ...