My own daughter suffered terrible eye pain after confusing it with a soaking solution and a Consumer Reports blogger wrote about it happening to his daughter too. I mentioned it during a class I taught recently at Temple University and several hands went up when I asked about it.
Several of our pharmacists and nurses have accidentally done it. He saw our previous blogs on the Internet and wanted us to know about his wife and that it is still happening, stating, "This is bad stuff!"īased on the error reports, as well as conversations I've had with others about this problem, I am amazed at how prevalent the situation has been. He indicated that his wife accidentally placed Clear Care in her eyes, resulting in severe eye pain. The latest report came last week when an angry caller left a message in our voice mail. Some have also suffered chemical injuries to the eye, including tissue injuries.įigure 1… Old (left) and new Clear Care label. If lens wearers fail to take that step and just use the solution itself as a soak, they will undoubtedly suffer eye burning and excruciating pain. The holder has a platinum disc which causes its cleaning action and neutralizes it. People commonly miss label statements and other product signals to soak lenses only in the special contact lens holder packaged with the product.
The Food and Drug Administration and the manufacturer are also aware, since we brought it to their attention two years ago in case they somehow didn't know about it. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is aware of hundreds of incidents where contact lens wearers have used the product improperly. It's for cleaning and disinfecting lens and it contains 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, which should never get into the eyes by using it as a contact lens rinse or soak. But Clear Care is not just another soaking solution. Or they've mistaken a friend's bottle of Clear Care and poured the solution in their flat contact lens holder for an overnight soak. They say they selected the product from among other lens soaking solutions stored side-by-side at the pharmacy. People who wear contact lenses have told us they assumed Clear Care was just another multipurpose solution for rinsing and soaking lenses. Later, I called attention to the problem and requested action by FDA and the manufacturer, Ciba Vision Corp., a Novartis company. It's been almost two years since a Check Up blog warned about how the popular contact lens cleaning product CLEAR CARE can cause severe eye burning and even eye damage if it's not used properly.