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Event

Fusarium keratitis outbreak, 2005-2006

Fungal eye infections in contact lens wearers in Asia and the U.S., linked by the CDC to ReNu with MoistureLoc.

9 links, 6 backed by primary records

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Dates
Jun 2005 – Sep 2006
Place
United States

Connections 9

involved

  • Bausch & Lomb maker of the solution; withdrew it from the U.S. market on 13 April 2006 and announced a worldwide recall on 15 May Primary record 1
  • Bausch & Lomb settled nearly 600 fungal-infection suits out of court by May 2009, at a reported cost of more than $250 million Scholarship & press 2
  • Bausch & Lomb says it compensated people fairly through more than 600 settlements and will fight claims with no scientific basis According to Bausch & Lomb Scholarship & press 3
  • Bausch & Lomb a federal judge in South Carolina found, in September 2009, no reliable scientific basis for claims that MoistureLoc caused 1,024 people's other infections Scholarship & press 3
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted 180 confirmed cases in 35 states by September 2006; of 118 patients who knew their solution in May, 21 (18%) had used only other makers' products, which the CDC said might reflect incomplete recall Primary record 12
  • ReNu with MoistureLoc the product the CDC's case-control study linked to infection Primary record 1
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coordinated the investigation with state and local health departments and the FDA Primary record 4
  • U.S. Food and Drug Administration part of the joint investigation Primary record 4

appears in

Timeline 1 date
  1. Jun 2005 – Sep 2006 Fusarium keratitis outbreak, 2005-2006
Proof 4 sources
  1. Update: Fusarium Keratitis — United States, 2005–2006 (MMWR Dispatch), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 May 2006. Primary record
    Ongoing surveillance continues to identify persons who used MoistureLoc and had disease onset after April 13, when Bausch & Lomb withdrew this product from the market in the United States.
    Patients who reported using only products other than MoistureLoc might not have recalled all the contact lens solutions they had used, especially if the period between exposure and interview was lengthy.
    use of Bausch & Lomb's ReNu with MoistureLoc during the month before symptom onset was independently associated with being a case-patient (adjusted odds ratio: 19.0, 95% confidence interval = 2.4--944.9, p<0.001)
    In April 2006, CDC reported on an ongoing multistate investigation of Fusarium keratitis occurring predominantly among contact lens wearers
  2. 600 eye fungus suits settled by contact maker, The Associated Press, via NBC News, 31 May 2009. Scholarship & press
    Over the past year, away from the glare of public scrutiny, the optical products company has quietly settled nearly 600 fungal-infection lawsuits — with dozens more individual claims yet to be resolved. The cost so far: Upward of $250 million.
    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 180 cases in 35 states from June 2005 through September 2006, when the agency's dedicated surveillance stopped
  3. Bausch & Lomb gets win in suits, The Associated Press, via Vindy Archives, 1 Sep 2009. Scholarship & press
    In a statement, Bausch & Lomb said that in Fusarium-related cases “where people were directly affected, the company sought to compensate them fairly, and has done so through more than 600 settlements — the vast majority of these claims.
    “At the same time, we have vowed to fight vigorously where there is no scientific basis for claims, and will continue to do so.”
    a federal judge in South Carolina said there’s no reliable scientific basis for arguing that MoistureLoc caused an additional 1,024 lens wearers across the United States to contract assorted bacterial, viral and parasitic infections.
  4. Fusarium Keratitis — Multiple States, 2006 (MMWR Dispatch), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 Apr 2006. Primary record
    As of April 9, 2006, a total of 109 patients with suspected Fusarium keratitis were under investigation in multiple states.
    An ongoing investigation by CDC, state and local health departments, and the Food and Drug Administration is under way
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