Contact Lens Solution

For those that wear contact lenses the story of contact lens solution being pulled off the market seems to be old news because of reports about potentially debilitating disease is once again making news. 

Whether it’s the most recent contact lens solution issue with Advance Medical Optics “Complete MoisturePlus” contact lens solution or one of the other companies that has ran into trouble in the past.  The CDC has announced that this contact lens solution is linked to a rare but serious eye infection that slowly erodes the cornea leading to blindness.

We really shouldn’t be shocked because this recall for contact lens solution is one of many in a long list.  Just a year ago Bausch & Lomb found themselves in the center of controversy with the CDC releasing a report that a specific eye infection was showing up a disproportionate amount of time in those that had used MositureLoc and ReNu which were discontinued.  A recall was quickly issued and Bausch & Lomb found themselves on the front page of the paper.

This wasn’t the only recall.  There have been many smaller scale issues.  There have been a handful of widespread recalls that have caused issued from bacterial contamination to more serious issues such as finding trace amounts of iron. 

In most of these cases it was a local clinician that noticed an increase in a rare eye condition which they in turn reported to CDC who then launched an investigation which led to a particular contact lens solution. 

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Last year's recall of ReNu and MoistureLoc the result of a fungal infection Fusarium keratitis. The disease associated with the Complete MoisturePlus recall is caused by Acanthamoeba, which is a water-borne parasite that occurs naturally but when it is in the human eye it can lead to serious infections of the cornea.  The risk for those using the produce was 7 times higher.

Concerns are now being raised with multi purpose solutions in general.  It seems that these contact lens solutions are seeing a much higher degree of eye infection which brings up the question as to whether these new solutions are as good as older individual solutions.  Most of the earlier solutions were peroxide based cleaners which were a two step process.  Perhaps convenience isn’t always the best answer.

Some studies have shown that the bubble action of the peroxide based cleaners did a better job of removing dirt and build up.  It’s believed they were also better at killing of organisms.  The goal of the manufacturers was to produce a contact lens solution that are convenient and comfortable while still remaining effective.  However it seems that some of that convenience has caused a health risk.

Another part of the problem is the way people use the solutions.  Sometimes it’s not always entirely the manufacturers fault.  Sometimes consumers don’t follow directions properly

What ever the reason the fact is that there appears to be some concerns that are not yet totally eliminated.  It may for the most part be a good idea to use the older tried and true contact lens solution.