Health Conditions / Eye Health

As allergy season approaches, you may find yourself reaching for a bottle of artificial tears to relieve dry eyes way more than usual. First, though, you may want to check your medicine cabinet to see what brand you’re turning to for relief: Two kinds of eye drops—made by pharmaceutical companies Apotex Corp. and Pharmedica USA LLC—have recently been voluntarily recalled due to concerns the products aren’t sterile, per the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This comes hot on the heels of a CDC warning against using eye drops made by EzriCare, which were found to be contaminated by drug-resistant bacteria and recalled just last month. The EzriCare drops were linked to infections of the eye, urinary tract, and bloodstream; permanent vision loss; hospitalization; and even one death, as SELF previously reported.The recalled Pharmedica drops are called Purely Soothing, 15% MSM Drops, and the exact reason the product is being pulled from shelves was not given. (Cool!) A statement from the FDA said only that the company had concerns over “non-sterility.” As of March 3, there were no reports of illness or injury related to the Purely Soothing drops.The Apotex product, called Brimonidine Tartrate Ophthalmic Solution, 0.15%, is being recalled due to a manufacturing problem, per the FDA statement: Some of the bottle caps have developed cracks, which can lead to contamination of the eye drops. There haven’t been any reports of adverse events connected to the eye drops, per the Associated Press, but if they’re being recalled, you should probably throw them away nonetheless.If you have either of these products in your home, check them for the below lot numbers and universal product codes (UPC):Purely Soothing, 15% MSM DropsSize: 1 oz. Lot number 2203PS01. UPC: 7 31034 91379 9.Size: ½ oz. Lot number 1808051. UPC: 7 31034 91382 9.Brimonidine Tartrate Ophthalmic Solution, 0.15%Size: 5 mL. Lot numbers: TJ9848; TJ9849; TK0258; TK5341. UPC on bottle: (01)0(03) 60505056415. UPC on carton: 360505056415.Size: 10 mL. Lot number: TK0261. UPC on bottle: (01)0(03) 60505056422. UPC on carton: 360505056422.Size: 15 mL. Lot number: TK0262. UPC on bottle: (01)0(03) 60505056439. UPC on carton: 360505056439.If your eye drops are labeled with the above information, stop using them immediately. If you happen to have the recalled Pharmedica drops, you can return them to the store where you bought them, per the FDA statement. Apotex suggests that people who have used their recalled product contact their health care provider for medical advice and contact Inmar Rx Solutions at 1-855-275-1273 to make arrangements to return the eye drops.Always check the expiration date on products you’re using near and in your eyes, too. As a rule of thumb, most pharmaceutical companies recommend throwing away and replacing your eye drops 28 days after you open them, so it’s good to do a spring cleaning of your supply if it’s been a while, no matter what brand you use. The last thing you need this spring is to run into a product that will make matters worse—a simple peek into your medicine cabinet might help protect your peepers from both allergies and, potentially, more serious eye issues.Related:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning people to stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears after the over-the-counter eye drops were linked to 50 reported infections, as well as one associated death. Though a recall hasn’t been initiated yet, per EzriCare, both doctors and their patients should immediately stop using the product until the CDC’s investigation is complete, according to a statement from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). EzcriCare said in a statement dated February 1: “To the greatest extent possible, we have been contacting customers to advise them against continued use of the product. We also immediately reached out to both CDC and FDA and indicated our willingness to cooperate with any requests they may have of us.”Infections associated with the eye drops have been reported in at least 11 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Washington. So far, experts know that the reported issues primarily occurred from May 2022 to January 2023 and were caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, per the statement. In addition to eye infections, the bacteria caused respiratory or urinary tract infections; the person who died was diagnosed with a bloodstream infection. The infections have also caused complications, like permanent vision loss and hospitalization.Because Pseudomonas aeruginosa are resistant to some forms of antibiotics and are highly adaptable, infections caused by the bacteria are “extremely challenging…to treat in modern-day medicine,” per the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).The bacteria can be found in the environment (such as in water or soil), but it also spreads in health care settings via contaminated hands, equipment, or surfaces, per the CDC. (The statement didn’t specify how the affected bottles of EzriCare Artificial Tears were contaminated.) Infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in hospitals and other medical facilities are fairly common: Among hospitalized people, there were about 32,600 cases in 2017 alone, per the CDC’s most recently available data. The risk is highest for people with wounds from surgery or burns, people who rely on medical devices such as catheters, and people who use ventilators.During the ongoing investigation, testing revealed the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria in opened bottles of EzriCare Artificial Tears, which is a preservative-free product. Testing of unopened bottles is currently ongoing.This isn’t the first time bacterial growth has been linked to preservative-free eye drops: A 2022 study published in the journal Pathogens suggests contamination can occur when a person’s fingertips, eyelids, or other body parts touch the vial while administering the drops. And an older study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology that looked at the prevalence of bacteria in such products found “significant growth” in eight bottles collected for the research.Even though the product hasn’t been formally recalled yet, it’s in your best interest to stop using it while the CDC investigates the infections linked to EzriCare Artificial Tears. And, as with any product under investigation, if you’ve used the eye drops in the past and want to make sure you aren’t experiencing any worrisome symptoms, it can’t hurt to check in with a doctor.Related:

If you’ve ever worn contact lenses, you’ve likely heard the warnings: Never sleep in them; bad things will happen if you do. I’ve been wearing contacts since the fourth grade, and, I confess, I’ve spent more than a night or two in mine. It usually happens when I’m reading a book in bed at the end of the day—sometimes it’s simply too hard to force myself out from under the covers just to pluck them out. But thanks to a video that recently went viral on TikTok, I won’t be making excuses anymore.The video, which has garnered more than 21,000 views, shows California-based ophthalmologist Katerina Kurteeva, MD, removing not one, not two, but 23 contact lenses (yes, 23!!) from under a person’s eyelid. Dr. Kurteeva had already removed about two lenses from the person’s right eye before she started filming the process.“There’s a whole wad…We may have to count them. I think I’ve already counted more than 10 or 12,” she said in the video, while gently prodding the lenses out from under the eyelid with a cotton swab. “Oh, come on. I can’t believe you,” the person said. Dr. Kurteeva even joked that her patient could be in a Guinness World Records book.After watching the video, there are two questions that may immediately come to mind: Why were the lenses green? And how did the person in the video not realize so many were jammed under their eyelid?Dr. Kurteeva recently spoke with ABC7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles to clarify what happened. First, the contacts weren’t actually green—they just appeared that way thanks to a stain Dr. Kurteeva put in the eye to help her easily identify the lenses. And as for how this happened, Dr. Kurteeva says this type of situation isn’t actually that strange.When a person wears contacts for a very long time, their cornea can become desensitized to them, she explained. “This is essentially a protective feature because otherwise you’d be really bothered by everyday contact lens wear,” she said. “After all, it is a foreign body in your eye. So when the cornea loses sensitivity, it’s sort of an adjustment, but at the same time you don’t feel when something is wrong as acutely.”Dr. Kurteeva also noted that her patient’s age may have exacerbated things here, explaining that as people get older, the pockets of their upper eyelids become deeper because you naturally lose fat around your eyes over time. “All those contact lenses were able to hide like a stack of pancakes really far deep inside in the least sensitive part of the eye,” she said.The lesson here, of course, is to always take your contacts out at night before you go to sleep. In addition to potential redness and irritation, sleeping in contacts can also up your risk of developing an eye infection, per the Cleveland Clinic. Warning signs to look out for include decreased or blurred vision, redness, excessive watering, and discharge. If you start experiencing these, you should see a doctor ASAP.Luckily, the person in the viral TikTok didn’t have any long-lasting eye damage—but that can easily happen if you don’t handle your lenses appropriately, Dr. Kurteeva said. “It doesn’t always end this well,” she explained. “I’ve been in practice for almost 20 years, and I’ve seen some cases really go south, where people develop vision-threatening infections from even, like, a day of overnight contact lens wearing.”In other words: It doesn’t matter how tired you are at the end of the day—you really need to take those contacts out before you fall asleep, switch out your contacts at the recommended time if you’re using an extended-wear option, and always handle your lenses with clean hands.Related: