Contact lens manufacturer CooperVision Inc. is facing a public warning from federal health officials as growing reports of eye problems ranging from blurry vision to torn corneas continue to plague the firm. According to MSNBC, about 10 percent of CooperVision’s Avaira Toric contact lenses sold in Costco, Wal-Mart and LensCrafters were recalled quietly in August due to “unidentified residue.”
But that’s not enough, the Food and Drug Administration says. The FDA wants the company to broaden notification of problems with its lenses, or the agency will do it for them.
“Absent prompt and adequate communication by CooperVision, the FDA may independently share its concerns about Avaira Toric contact lenses,” FDA spokesperson Morgan Liscinsky said in an email.
Complaints about the lenses had been flowing in since the brand was launched in April, MSNBC said. Several customers experiences impaired vision and “excruciating pain” that landed them in emergency rooms. For these people, the late notice is frustrating.
“It is very frustrating that they’re not more vocal about it and that the FDA hasn’t warned more people,” Mellisa Cotton told the network. “Next to labor, a corneal abrasion is one of the most painful things you can have.”
Cotton suffered two corneal abrasions over the summer after wearing Avaira Toric lenses, MSNBC said.
The voluntary recall of about 600,000 of the lenses came on August 19. CooperVision said they initiated the recall after discovering a “small number of unexpected wearer reports of hazy vision and discomfort.
