CHINA / Top News

Bausch and Lomb: No eye infections in Europe, China
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-04-13 10:54

US contact lens maker Bausch and Lomb said it has found no eye infections in Europe or China linked to a cleaning solution that has been yanked from sale in the United States.


A Malaysian girl checks her contact lens before buying it at a shopping complex in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. [AFP]

"There was no reported incidents" in either Europe or China, company chief executive Ronald Zarrella told reporters on a conference call.

He said that in both regions, the ReNu with MoistureLoc solution was made locally and not imported from the United States.

"The products shipped in Europe are from a plant in Europe," Zarrella said, without specifying the location.

Bausch and Lomb on Monday stopped US shipments of the solution after health authorities linked it to a rare but serious condition that can cause loss of sight.

The company said shipments from its plant at Greenville, South Carolina, had stopped temporarily.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had received reports of 109 cases of the suspected infection, fungal keratitis, in 17 different states.

Bausch and Lomb has already stopped sales of its ReNu multi-purpose solutions in Singapore and Hong Kong after a spate of keratitis infections among contact lens users there since February.

Sweden's biggest optician chain, Synsam, said Wednesday it had withdrawn the ReNu with MoistureLoc solution from all its 150 stores.