AMO and ReNu, Acanthamoeba and Fusarium: What brings it all together?
Eye Net Magazine reports on Acanthamoeba and Fusarium keratitis
infections caused by AMO and ReNu contact lens solutions in the past year.
Both ReNu with MoistureLoc and AMO Complete MoisturePlus were recalled
due to their association with eye infections. Before both recalls, doctors
reported unusually high numbers of these cases popping up, but the FDA didn't
act until months later.
"That was about to change. “All of a sudden,”
said Dr. Jones, “we realized this was an unusual event.” It was, as he put it,
“a true mystery outbreak.” Within months, he and other experts, along with the
CDC and FDA, were caught up in an investigation, trying to track down the source
of the fungal infection. By June 2006, the CDC had reported 130 confirmed cases
(125 related to contact lenses), and Bausch & Lomb had voluntarily withdrawn
its contact lens solution, ReNu with MoistureLoc, from worldwide distribution
because so many of the infected patients had used it.
"Another bug,
another outbreak. Over the same approximate period of time, doctors at Wills Eye
Hospital were seeing an unusual number of cases of a contact lens–related
infection caused by Acanthamoeba, a protozoan typically associated with water
sources."
Acanthamoeba
keratitis, a sight-threatening infection of the ocular surface, has been
described as producing “exquisite pain and ulceration of the ocular surface.”1
The infection is usually initiated by contaminated contact lenses. Like the
Fusarium infections, it’s usually considered rare.
Other groups were
reporting an upsurge, too. “There’s been a chronic problem. And now we have an
acute problem on top of that,” Dr. Hammersmith said. “It’s concerning to have so
much infection related to contact lenses.”
Weitz & Luxenberg is
currently representing individuals who have been affected by both brends of
contact lens solution. If you used both of these solutions, and you aren't sure
which one made you sick, we can help you figure that out.
Fill out the
form below and we can help get you started.
see also:
The Danger of Contact Lens Solutions
AMO and ReNu, Acanthamoeba and Fusarium: What brings it all together?Have you contracted acanthamoeba or fusarium from ReNu or AMO?
FDA Warning
FDA warns against Bausch & Lomb's ReNu with MoistureLoc lens solutionLegal help for people with eye infections from Bausch & Lomb's ReNu
