Source | DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

By Jon Kamp

U.S. health authorities are concerned that contact-lens wearers are still using an Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (EYE) lens solution pulled from the market two months ago due to infection links, and that the company hasn’t done enough to raise public awareness.

At least four cases of the serious eye-infection Acanthamoeba keratitis have been connected to use of Advanced Medical’s Complete MoisturePlus solution since the late May recall, said Michael Beach, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has found that many people are unaware of the recall.

The Food and Drug Administration, meantime, recently found that solution bottles are still on some retail shelves, said Tim Ulatowski, director of compliance in the FDA’s medical devices branch. The CDC believes there may also be millions of bottles still in the homes of contact-lens wearers.

Tough-to-treat Acanthamoeba infections can potentially bind people.

“We really want people to hear about this and check their medicine cabinets,” Beach said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. “To me this is a real tragedy when people are still using the product after the recall.”

The recall has also led to product liability lawsuits against Advanced Medical. In a release Tuesday, law firm Schmidt & Clark LLP said four additional suits have been filed against the company in Orange County Superior Court in California, all brought by individuals alleging they contracted Acanthamoeba infections while using Complete MoisturePlus. The suits were filed by law firm Moore Labriola LLP.

Read The Full Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20070731-715781.html?mod=djempersonal

[UPDATE 08/01/07] Recall of Complete MoisturePlus Multi-purpose Contact Lens Solution manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. classified by FDA as Class I

Class 1 recalls are the most serious type of recall and involve situations in which there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious injury or death.

On August 1, 2007 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration announced that many consumers may not be aware of the May 2007 recall of Complete MoisturePlus Multipurpose Contact Lens Solution manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) and continue to use the recalled product. Several cases of Acanthamoeba Keratitis have been reported to CDC that involve the use of AMO Complete MoisturePLUS after the recall was announced. Individuals who wear soft contact lenses should stop using the Advanced Medical Optics Complete MoisturePLUS product immediately, discard all remaining solution including partially used or unopened bottles. See the FDA Preliminary Public Health Notification dated May 31, 2007, for recommendations for contact lens wearers.

Learn More About Your Legal Rights: http://www.schmidtandclark.com/Complete-MoisturePlus/