Eyedrop Recalls – What you Need to Know

Another Round of Eyedrop Recalls Just in Time for Dry Eye Season….What to Do? (and Don’t Do)

As you may have seen in the news, the FDA has recalled at least 26 lubricating eyedrops for possible contamination. For the complete list of recalled drops, please see chart at the bottom of this article.

So what is going on with these eyedrop recalls?

As you may remember in March of 2023, several over the counter lubicatin eyedrops were recalled after many severe eye infections, enucleations (eye removal) and possible fatalities were reported. The tainted drops were traced back to manufacturing facilities in India and were mostly available from online retailers.

Why is this recall different? As of this writing, there have been NO reported eye infections from the drops in the current recall. However, the FDA stated that unsanitary conditions were found at the facilities where the drops are manufactured. What is also interesting with this recent recall is that many of these drops are pretty commonly found at your local pharmacy whereas previous recalls involved more obscure drops available mostly online, many of which we had never seen before.

So What to Do?

• Obviously, if you have any of the drops listed below, please discard them as soon as possible.
• As it appears that most of the recalled drops are generic, buy brand name drops. We recommend (and stock in our office), Retaine Preservative Free for dry eye, red, or irritated eyes.
• Avoid buying eyedrops online as some could be manufactured overseas in unsanitary conditions and have labels that mimic quality eyedrop manufacturers.
• Avoid drops in bottles. Why? Two Reasons: 1.) All drops in bottles should have preservatives in the formula to prevent microbial growth. These preservatives can be irritating to the eyes and cause more redness and irritation. 2.) When instilling the drops, patients often hit the eyelid or surface of the eye and contaminate the tip of the bottle of drops which can lead to “infestation” of the whole bottle.  Using Preservative Free Lubrication in disposable tubes greatly reduces the chance of contamination.
• Avoid using preservative free drops that come in bottles. Recently some manufacturers have started producing preservative free drops in bottles with a special tip that is supposed to keep out pathogens while instilling drops. Currently, we are not convinced of the safety of this design and any pathogen introduced into the bottle at time of manufacturing will have no problem reproducing in a preservative free environment.
• Check the expiration date on all of your eyedrops and discard expired drops accordingly.
• Switch to single use contacts which are much more comfortable and require less lubrication drops.
• Continue taking your eyedrops which Dr. Steve or Dr. Sarah may have prescribed for glaucoma, post cataract surgery care, and other eye conditions. To date there has been no recalls on prescription eyedrops.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

Dr. Steve and Dr. Sarah