A Miramar resident is suing the manufacturer and distributors of artificial tears, claiming she lost an eye after using the product. The tears were withdrawn from the market due to possible bacterial contamination.
Clara Oliva describes what she went through last year as ‘difficult’, when she developed a painful infection in her right eye and spent a month trying to fight it off with different treatments, antibiotics and even a surgery, but nothing worked.
“When I woke up from the anesthesia, my son was next to me and mum told me, you can’t do a transplant, you have to remove the eye. And on September 1 of the same year, in 2022, they removed my eye , says the resident of Miramar.
Clara says it was an extremely difficult time. During the process of waiting for a prosthesis, she says she had to stiffen up in front of her grandchildren who wondered what was going on.
She was unable to explain to her family until November they told her to stop the artificial tears she was using.
“My clinic calls me and tells me to eliminate them, not to use them anymore,” Clara explains.
These are Ezricare artificial tears that were recently withdrawn from the market due to possible bacterial contamination.
The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert that its use “increases the risk of eye infections that can lead to blindness or death.”
“This infection is unfortunately resistant to antibiotics, so it is very difficult to treat and can cause not only eye infections, but also urinary tract infections, systemic infections that can lead to death,” says Natasha Cortes, attorney at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen. , law firm that represents Clara Oliva.
According to the FDA, 55 adverse reactions have been reported nationwide, including eye infections, permanent vision loss and death due to bacteremia.
The tears were sold under the EzriCare and Delsam Pharma brand names. The manufacturer and distributor now have disclaimers on their pages; Late warnings for Clara Oliva who filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributors and medical center that sent her the drops as part of her healthcare plan.
“With this lawsuit, we want to ensure that these companies that have been negligent are responsible for the damage they have caused, but also to investigate the facts in order to prevent this tragedy from happening again in the future,” said Cortes. “What I went through, I don’t want anyone to go through” -.
We have contacted the manufacturer of these artificial tears as well as the distributors and have not yet received a response. The medical center told us that it had not received a lawsuit notice and had no comment at this time. When the FDA issued its alert, Ezricare said it was not aware of any evidence linking the outbreak of the bacteria to tears, but took steps to stop them from distribution. Since these artificial tears are sold without a prescription, health authorities are urging anyone who has them to stop using them.