Michigan woman files ReNu lawsuit
A Michigan woman has filed a ReNu lawsuit against Bausch & Lomb, claiming that she developed the fungal eye infection Fusarium keratitis after using the company’s ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution. As a result of her Fusarium keratitis symptoms, Gina Macchia says that she underwent two cornea transplants and lost sight in her right eye.
Macchia began using MoistureLoc in November 2005. In January, she awoke one night with a sharp pain in her right eye. Doctors prescribed eye drops to treat the redness and irritation she was experiencing, but these stopped working after a few days. Another visit to the doctor confirmed that Macchia was suffering Fusarium keratitis symptoms.
When a more powerful eye drop prescription failed to resolve the infection, she underwent a cornea transplant in her right eye. However, the eye drops Macchia was prescribed ate through her new cornea, and little more than a month after the operation, she underwent a second cornea transplant. Macchia estimates that she has spent $100,000 over a four-month period on her medical bills.
Macchia’s ReNu attorney, Philip C. Curtis, says that Bausch & Lomb failed to warn consumers of the risk to their eyesight posed by MoistureLoc. Although the company issued a ReNu recall in Asia in late 2005 because of the risk of Fusarium keratitis symptoms, it failed to inform U.S. health officials of this move. Curtis says that Bausch & Lomb should have either notified U.S. consumers of MoistureLoc’s health risks or issued a complete ReNu recall.