Multipurpose Contact Lens Solution Linked to Eye Problems

A new study indicates that some multi-purpose contact lens solutions can make the eye more susceptible to damage and infection than others by causing cell damage that strips away the eyes’ natural protective barriers.

The study’s results were announced at the Eighth National Congress on Optometry and Opticianry in Singapore last week, and suggest that some brands of contact lens solution, such as ReNu MultiPlus by Bausch & Lomb, and Opti-free Express and Opti-Free RepleniSH by Alcon, are cytotoxic, meaning they are toxic to cells. The researchers indicate that the solutions may damage the corneal epithelium, which works as the outer protective barrier of the cornea, leading to a higher risk of corneal inflammation known as microbial keratitis.

Bausch & Lomb and Alcon have questioned the findings, according to a report in The New Paper. They pointed out that the studies were partially funded by competitor Advanced Medical Optics (AMO), whose Complete MPS Easy Rub was found to be non-cytotoxic, and the study was a laboratory test that was not actually conducted on contact lens wearers.

Multipurpose solutions, which are “all-in-one” products for cleaning, rinsing, disinfecting and storing contact lenses, have been linked to serious eye problems before, including eye infection outbreaks that led to major recalls for Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu with MoistureLoc in April 2006 and AMO’s Complete MoisturePLUS in May 2007.

ReNu with MoistureLoc was pulled from store shelves after it was linked to an outbreak of fungal eye infections, known as Fusarium keratitis. The infection is difficult to recover from and resulted in many users requiring corneal transplant surgery or having their eye removed.

Bausch & Lomb has reportedly paid out more than $250 million to settle about 600 ReNu with MoistureLoc lawsuits for users who suffered Fusarium keratitis. They also faced a number of lawsuits alleging that the solution caused non-fungal eye infections. However, a federal judge in South Carolina excluded expert testimony in those cases last month, ruling that the expert relied on unsupported hypothesis to reach the conclusions and that attorneys provided no supporting data to back up the theories that the multipurpose lens solution caused non-fungal infections.

In May 2007, one year after the Fusarium keratitis outbreak, AMO issued a Complete MoisturePLUS recall for their multipurpose solution after it was linked to an outbreak of Acanthmoeba keratitis, which is a microbial eye infection caused by a parasite that invades the cornea. The infection is typically associated with contact lens wearers who do not properly clean their lenses, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that AMO Complete MoisturePlus users were up to seven times more like to contract the infection.

According to a June 2009 report by the Associated Press, AMO received at least nine reports of customers who contracted Acanthamoeba keratitis starting as early as February 2006. However the company did not turn those reports over to the FDA and continued to sell their multipurpose contact lens cleaner without taking steps to protect the public for more than a year.

More than 100 people have filed an Acanthamoeba keratitis lawsuit against AMO after suffering severe injuries to their eyes and vision after using Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution, including claims for corneal transplants, blindness and eye removals.