Health

Eye Drops Recalled After Being Linked To Infections, Vision Loss, 1 Death

At a Glance

The eye drops were linked to drug-resistant infections in 12 states.
At least 55 people were infected.
Five people lost their eyesight, and one person died.

Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

Eye drops linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections in 12 states have been recalled.

At least 55 people have been infected. One person has died, and at least five have lost their vision.

The drops were sold under the names EzriCare Artificial Tears and Delsam Pharma's Artificial Tears. The Food and Drug Administration said the eye drops are made by Global Pharma Healthcare in India.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned about the infections caused by a strain of the “extensively drug-resistant” pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. The warning said most of the patients had used EzriCare Artificial Tears, which is a lubricant for dry eyes. The CDC said testing found the bacteria in opened EzriCare Artificial Tears bottles from multiple lots.

(MORE: Could 'The Last Of Us' Fictional Fungal Pandemic Happen In Real Life?)

On Thursday, Global Pharma announced the recall.

“Global Pharma is fully cooperating with U.S. federal authorities, and is continuing to investigate this matter, but thus far we have not determined whether our manufacturing facility is the source of the contamination,” the company said in a statement.

The FDA had recommended the recall because of violations in the company's manufacturing process, "including lack of appropriate microbial testing, formulation issues (the company manufactures and distributes ophthalmic drugs in multi-use bottles, without an adequate preservative), and lack of proper controls concerning tamper-evident packaging."

The CDC said patients' infections included keratitis, which is an infection of the cornea, inflammation of the eye's fluids, sepsis and respiratory and urinary tract infections.

The infections were found in people in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin, the CDC said.

(WATCH: Living Near Green And Blue Natural Spaces Could Be Key For Cognition)

"Patients who used EzriCare Artificial Tears and who have signs or symptoms of an eye infection, such as discharge from the eye, eye pain or discomfort, redness of the eye or eyelid, feeling of something in the eye, increased sensitivity to light, or blurry vision, should seek timely medical care," the CDC said.

Dr. Thomas L. Steinemann, a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, told the New York Times he was struck that the EzriCare drops were in a multi-use bottle but they didn't contain preservatives to prevent bacteria growth or contamination. Most preservative-free eye drops come in single-use bottles, he said.

Someone using any type of eye drops should wash their hands and not touch the bottle's tip, which could contaminate the drops, Steinemann said.

“Don’t touch the bottle to your eye or to your face or to your nose,” he said.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.