Contact Lens Solution Pulled Over Link to Infection

Transplant News, June, 2007

A contact lens solution manufacturer voluntarily withdrew one of its products Saturday after federal health officials said an investigation had linked it to the rare but potentially blinding eye infection Acanthamoeba keratitis, the New York Times reported. Customers were advised to immediately stop using the solution, AMO Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Solution. They also were advised to throw out their current contact lenses and the lens storage case because they may harbor the infection.

Advanced Medical Optics of Santa Ana, CA, the manufacturer, withdrew the product as a precaution after epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they had identified 138 laboratory-confirmed cases of the infection that have occurred throughout the country since January 2005. Acanthamoeba keratitis usually affects healthy people who wear contact lenses. About 85% of the cases reported in this country have occurred in contact lens users, including wearers who say they follow recommended contact lens-care practices, health officials said.

Last year, an outbreak of fusarium keratitis caused by a fungus was linked to ReNu With MoistureLoc solution made by Bausch & Lomb, but how the product caused the problem is unknown. Of the 180 infection victims confirmed so far in 35 states, 59 needed cornea transplants to try to restore their vision, according to the CDC.