Weitz & Luxenberg Responds to Reports Linking AMO Solution to Potentially Blinding Eye Infection

A year after an international health concern besieged Bausch & Lomb, prompting its recall of ReNu with MoistureLoc, Advanced Medical Optics has pulled its Complete MoisturePlus Contact Lens Solution from shelves after federal health regulators linked it, preliminarily, with a serious eye infection.

According to the Center for Disease Control, the risk of developing Acanthamoeba keratitis, which can cause blindness, was at least seven times greater for consumers who used Complete MoisturePlus solution versus those who did not.

“This is yet another example of a company being forced to recall its contact lens solution due to the risk of causing blindness in users. The public has a right to know why these outbreaks are occurring,” said Paul J. Pennock, Director of the Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. drug and medical device litigation unit.

Pennock has spearheaded litigation related to the dangerous contact-lens solution ReNu with MoistureLoc, filing the first of several corneal transplant cases with the State Supreme Court of New York on May 5, 2006, court index #106201/06.

Acanthamoeba keratitis, the infection associated with AMO’s Complete MoisturePlus, can lead to loss of vision with some patients ultimately needing a corneal transplant. The Food and Drug Administration is urging consumers who wear soft contact lenses to immediately cease using the solution, discard all partially-used or unopened bottles and replace their lenses and storage container.

Epidemiologists have identified at least 138 laboratory confirmed cases of the Acanthamoeba keratitis infection, nationally, since January 2005, the New York Times said. Illinois doctors reported a cluster of cases found at the University of Illinois in Chicago to the CDC back in March 2006. This sparked the current intensive, national investigation.

People who have been harmed by Complete MoisturePlus solution can contact Weitz & Luxenberg. Interested parties should call the Client Relations Department at 1 (800) 476-6070, e-mail clientrelations@weitzlux.com , and view the Firm’s corporate Web site at http://www.weitzlux.com

About Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C.:
Weitz & Luxenberg, founded in 1986, is one of the leading plaintiffs’ litigation law firms in America. The firm has played leading roles in national and local litigations involving asbestos, DES, silicone breast implants, medical malpractice, and general negligence, among others. A forerunner in the legal fight against environmental polluters, Weitz & Luxenberg has worked with clients harmed by MTBE and mercury, among other toxins. The firm has won numerous cases involving dangerous pharmaceuticals, including Vioxx, achieving a $13.5 million verdict against Merck & Co. (docket No. ATLL129605).