Wilmington optometrist speaks on recalled eye drops

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY)– An optometrist wants you to check your medicine cabinet for “artificial tears” that have been recalled nationwide due to contamination.

The eye drops from EzriCare and Delsam Phama were recalled in February.

So far, three people have died, and there’s been more reports of vision loss linked to the eye drops tainted with a rare strain of drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Wilmington optometrist Dr. Bonnie Fanelli says the drops are sold over the counter, and the specific brands recalled are not commonly used in our area, but she stresses how dangerous the bacteria is.

“This bacteria is especially dangerous, because it can actually –within 24 to 48 hours, it can cause corneal perforation, it can cause an ulcer so severe, and an infection so severe, —that it actually punctures the cornea and that’s how people, you’ll see some reports that there have been, –I think somewhere less than a dozen eyes that that have been lost, and that’s the way that the infection takes the vision,” said Bonnie Fanelli,

Fanelli says if you have the recalled eye drops, get rid of them, and contact your eye doctor if you develop a red or sore eye after using artificial tears.

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