Contact-lens solution is linked to eye infection
A contact-lens solution made by Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics Inc. has been linked to a serious eye infection that can lead to blindness, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website Friday.
Health investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked bacterial infections to Advanced Medical Optics’ Complete MoisturePlus solution, the website said.
Company and CDC officials could not be reached for comment.
In November, Advanced Medical Optics recalled 183,000 units of 12-ounce packs of Complete MoisturePlus after bacterial contamination was found in solutions sold in Japan. All had come from the same Chinese manufacturing plant, the company said at the time, adding that there were no reports of injuries from using the solution.
According to Friday’s Wall Street Journal report, the eye infections linked by the CDC involved an amoeba called Acanthamoeba. Such infections are rare, but eye-care centers have tracked increasing numbers of them.
There were no exact numbers on how many consumers might have been infected.
The news came a day after Advanced Medical Optics, which had sales of nearly $1 billion last year, announced it was interested in bidding for larger rival Bausch & Lomb Inc.
Advanced Medical Optics’ shares, which closed Friday at $40.20, down 90 cents, dropped $3.20, or 8%, to $37 in after-hours trading shortly after the news.
