Bausch & Lomb acts to recall suspect contact-lens solution

WASHINGTON – Bausch & Lomb Inc. said Monday it would no longer make its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact-lens solution and was recalling the product worldwide after linking certain uses to a potentially blinding eye infection.

The company decided to remove the solution from store shelves after 122 patients in 26 states developed the rare infections, caused by a commonly occurring fungus that inflames the cornea.

After months of investigation in cooperation with federal health officials and regulators, Bausch & Lomb concluded that infections from the solution developed in combination with certain customer habits, such as leaving the bottle open, letting the solution evaporate in the lens case or allowing the lens case to dry without washing it first.

“We believe that these infections may involve a perfect storm of factors,” said Ronald L. Zarrella, chairman and CEO of the Rochester, N.Y., company in a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

Federal health officials first learned of the problem on March 8, when a New Jersey ophthalmologist reported three cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Retailers stopped selling the solution. Last month, the company stopped shipping batches made at its Greenville, S.C., plant and then asked retailers to remove any on their shelves.

Bausch & Lomb took the latest and most drastic step after determining the product’s formula was partly responsible for the spike in infections, which have also been reported in Hong Kong and Singapore. After polymers in the solution are exposed for a while to air, a film develops and the fungus – prevalent in bathroom sinks – can adhere to it, Zarrella said.