NEW YORK, April 13, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Parker & Waichman, LLP (http://www.yourlawyer.com) announced that it has been retained by a 53-year-old man who was diagnosed with fusarium keratitis after using ReNu Contact Lens Solution with MositurLoc, manufactured by Bausch & Lomb, Inc. (NYSE:BOL).
On April 10, 2006 the FDA and the CDC issued public health warnings concerning serious fungal infections associated with contact lens use, and announced that Bausch and Lomb agreed to stop shipping the ReNu MoistureLoc brand contact lens solution. The CDC stated that it had interviewed 30 patients suspected of having fungal keratitis. Of these 30 patients, 28 wore soft contact lenses and 26 used Bausch & Lomb ReNu contact lens solution in the month prior to the fungal infection diagnosis. For more information on ReNu with MoisturLoc contact lens solution and fungal keratitis please visit http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/renu_contact_solution and http://www.renulawsuit.com.
The victim, who resides in upstate New York, was diagnosed with a fungal infection in his left eye in October 2005, and was sent to a cornea specialist at Columbia Presbyterian in New York City. The specialist performed a corneal confocal microscope exam and performed several biopsies, which confirmed the diagnosis of fusarium keratitis. The specialist notified the plaintiff that a cornea transplant would be necessary. The transplant procedure could not be performed until the infection was under control, thus the victim was prescribed voriconazole, a potent anti-fungal medication, which had to be administered approximately every 2 hours, 24 hours each day, over the course of several months. After the infection appeared under control, the cornea transplant procedure was performed. During the cornea transplant surgery, additional signs of the fungal infection were discovered. This later led to approximately 5 flush-out surgeries, which involved accessing the back of the left eye through an incision in order to remove additional evidence of the fusarium fungal infection. The infection returned following the flush-out surgeries, requiring the victim to undergo a lengthy and invasive surgery with the following procedures performed on his left eye: lensectomy, capsulectomy, removal of iris, removal of vitreous fluid and the removal of the fungal infection. The victim is left with only 15% vision in his left eye and is currently awaiting FDA approval for an iris transplant.
Fungal keratitis is a severe infection of the cornea. Risk factors for infection usually include trauma (generally with plant material), chronic ocular surface diseases, immunodeficiencies, and, rarely, contact lens use. An estimated 30 million persons in the United States wear soft contact lenses; the annual incidence of microbial keratitis is estimated to be 4 -- 21 per 10,000 soft contact lens users. Fungal keratitis is a condition more prevalent in warm climate. First-line treatment includes topical and oral antifungal medications; patients who do not respond to medical treatment usually require surgical intervention, including corneal transplantation. These infections are not transmitted from person to person.
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