It may seem crazy to loyal readers of the Consumerist, but people often important news when it comes to product recalls. NPR introduces us to James Millard Wilson, an art student in Baltimore who missed the news of the American Medical Optic (AMO) Complete MoisturePLUS Multipurpose Contact Lens Solution. He used to solution and got a painful eye infection that could have lead to blindness if he hadn’t gone to the hospital.
damn amoebas
Most Contact Lens Wearers Don't Know About AMO's MoisturePlus Recall
By 8.4.07
Hey, contact lens wearers, according to a CDC survey, more than half of you have no clue that Advanced Medical Optics recalled their Complete MoisturePlus lens cleaner. The multipurpose solution fails to protect users from an amoeba that can cause acanthamoeba keratitis. Over 25% of users who contracted the infection required a corneal transplant, and if that doesn’t scare you, consider this quote from the CDC:
“This is just as serious as the fusarium outbreak,” said Lola Russell, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referring to an outbreak of fungal eye infections last year that was linked to Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc lens cleaners.
Anyone with the tainted solution should immediately throw it out, along with their contact lenses and their lens’ storage case. If you have friends with contact lenses, do them a favor and mention the recall.
AMO Recalls Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Solution
By 5.27.07
Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) is recalling their Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Solution after the CDC discovered that 138 people using the solution contracted acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).
UIC investigators think the infection is not originating in the manufacturing process, but that the cleaning solution is not protecting people from the infection, which they get in their eyes through showering or swimming, Tu said.
AK is caused by an amoeba, which if left untreated, can cause pain and blindness.
