Oct. 30, 2023 – People who use eyedrops once again need to check whether their drops are on a newly issued recall list from the FDA.
The FDA announced on Friday that the more than 2 dozen products could cause eye infections or blindness, after bacterial contamination and unsanitary conditions were found at a manufacturing facility.
The affected brands are carried by major retailers like CVS, Target, Amazon, and Walmart. They include CVS Health, Leader (Cardinal Health), Rugby (Cardinal Health), Rite Aid, Target up & up, and Velocity Pharma.
CVS, Rite Aid, and Target are removing the products from store shelves and websites, but affected varieties of Leader, Rugby, and Velocity brands may still be available from other stores or online and should not be purchased, the FDA advised.
The FDA published the complete list of 26 recalled products on its website. This announcement follows recalls of other brands this year that were also linked to unsanitary manufacturing conditions.
People who have the recalled eyedrops should follow the FDA’s guidelines for throwing the products away, which may involve taking them to a drug take-back site.
Anyone who gets eye infection symptoms after using the recalled products should seek medical help right away, the FDA advised. Eye infection symptoms include eye pain, watery or itchy eyes, swelling, discharge, blurred vision, and sensitivity, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The FDA has not received any reports of infections or blindness linked to these newly recalled 26 products. Other eyedrops recalled this year were linked to four deaths, as well as vision loss in 14 people, according to the CDC.