Eye drops linked to lethal infection urgently recalled: ‘Immediately stop using them’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement on Jan. 20 to alert the public about the EziCare Artificial Tears eye drop product urging healthcare providers and customers to ‘immediately stop using them’.

Antibiotic resistance

According to CNN, the CDC has confirmed that it is carrying out an investigation after 55 infections including permanent vision loss, hospitalization, and one death have been recorded in 12 states in the US.

People who have sought medical care reported using at least one of more than 10 brands of artificial tears, while the majority reported using EzriCare’s product, the CDC reports.

The cases of infection varied across the cornea, intraocular fluids, respiratory tract, urinary tract, and sepsis.

Eye drops products do not contain preservatives so they lack ingredients to prevent bacterial growth. However, the CDC has tested open EzriCare bottles and identified Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria that are extensively drug-resistant to antibiotics.

Read more:

⋙ Common blood pressure drug recalled over cancer concerns

⋙ Popular aphrodisiac supplement recalled over heart attack and stroke risks

Read more ⋙ Tesco: Popular tablets recalled with a warning to customers not to take them

EzriCare, based in New Jersey, issued a statement to confirm that the distribution or sale of eye drops has been stopped:

[after learning of the investigation the company] immediately took action to stop any further distribution or sale of EzriCare Artificial Tears. To the greatest extent possible, we have been contacting customers to advise them against continued use of the product.

Symptoms to look out for

NBC News reports that the CDC advises consumers who have used the eye drops and who report the following symptoms to immediately seek medical care:

Yellow, green or clear discharge from the eye, eye pain or discomfort, redness of the eye or eyelid, feeling of something in your eye (foreign body sensation), increased sensitivity to light, and blurry vision.

As of Thursday, Feb 2, the product seems to have been recalledas they are no longer available on Amazon.com.

The product was produced in India and is available under different brand names in other countries. EzriCare stated that it is working with the US FDA on a recall for the product:

We understand that the same product is also marketed under other brand names. The manufacturer, Global Pharma Healthcare PVT Limited, is working with the US Food and Drug Administration on a recall.

Sources used:

-CNN: ‘CDC advises against using EzriCare eye drops as it investigates dozens of infections and one death in 12 states’

-CDC: ‘Outbreak of Extensively Drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Associated with Artificial Tears’

-NBCNews: ‘CDC warns that a brand of eyedrops may be linked to drug-resistant bacterial infections’