eFoodAlert

Numerous readers have reported problems with their Coopervision Toric lenses since eFoodAlert first posted information on the Avaira® Toric recall on August 23, 2011. Following is a complete list of our readers’ unedited reports.

From Helen on August 27, 2011: My son went to ER due to severe eye pain. His 1st Avaira Toric caused blur vision and rainbow coloring to his vision, but it disappeared couple days later. Then his 2nd pair had the same effect. so he took them off. Then his eye pain started. It was so intense we took him to ER.

From Krystal on August 29, 2011: We are located in Texas in the US and my son was in severe eye pain he had to miss the 2nd day of school. This was a horrifying experience for my family. The pain inflicted on my son was unbearable to watch. After taking him to his doctor then to an ophthalmologist purchasing 3 different prescriptions the bills staked up. His cornea was severely scratched and swollen. A week later he is doing better. We are just praying no long term damage was caused.

From Dan on August 29, 2011: My daughter also had to go to the ER due to severe eye pain after using these contacts. Diagnosed with severe tear to the cornea. Doing better now, scheduled to follow up with an opthamologist today. Contacts were purchased at the walmart in Hampton, VA.

From Ineke on August 29, 2011: I purchased contacts at Costco in Seattle WA and also ended up in the ER with the most excruciating eye pain. ER doc noted that the corneal abrasion was in the shape of the contact lens.Has anyone inquired about reimbursement for medical bills? I incurred several hundred dollars due to the ER visit as well as follow up eye care and lens fitting.

From Holly on August 30, 2011: I purchased the contacts at Costco in Irvine, CA. I also ended up in the emergency room due to severe eye pain and swollen face. I was diagnosed with corneal swelling and a severe corneal abrasion.

From Scott on August 30, 2011: I received a call at work around 2:15 am and it was my wife crying and telling me her eyes hurt and she could not see! I took her to the ER and she was diagnosed with corneal abrasion. These new contact lenses are supposed to be so great… Better vision is what they – Cooper Vision states on their adds, that is a joke. We are going to seek legal remedies on this company!!! And I think this is going to blow up more, that this is only the beginning of complaints.

From Angela on August 31, 2011: I experienced blurred vision in one eye after putting on a fresh pair of Aviara Toric contacts. It was severe clouded vision that lasted for about 2 hours after taking the lenses out. I talked with my optometrist and my eye appeared to be normal, but he thought their could have been a scratch on the eye.

From Annette on September 1, 2011: I purchased the Avaira Toric lenses in Spring, TX through 1800CONTACTS. When I took them out on the first day of wearing them (Tuesday, 8/30/11) it felt like I scratched my eye. When I woke up the next morning I couldn’t open my eyes. The pain was so severe. I went to my eye doctor and was told that both my cornea’s were torn. She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic but I still can’t see well enough to drive. I have never felt pain like this before.

From Mellisa on September 5, 2011: REGARDING AVAIRA TORIC CONTACT LENSE: I’ve suffered a severe corneal abrasion due to this lense. My lot number is involved in the recall. Over the weekend I noticed vision in my right eye was filmy so I removed the contact. About an hour later I was in severe pain in that eye–felt like a bee stiniging my eye. Doctor at the ER said I had a corneal abrasion in the shape of a contact over 15% of my cornea. I called my eye care provider and they said they had no idea of the recall. It’s frustrating that no one from either company failed to notify me that these lenses were defective. I live in Atlanta, Georgia and purchased these lense at a Lencrafters.

From Dee Angela on September 8, 2011: I experienced SEVERE eye pain. It hurt to have my eyes open it hurt to close them. It felt like something was scratching my eye. I have experienced this twice. I was in bed all day. I was going to go to the ER but I decided to take something to put me to sleep.

From Lorna on September 10, 2011: After wearing Bousch and Lomb for years, I went to Costco to get a new prescription of contact lenses and they gave me a pair of these contacts to try… at first I thought that I had picked up an eye infection because we had had been away at a funeral so I was constantly touching my eyes with tissue…when we got back home and my eyes cleared up they gave me a new trial pair but after a few days the same thing happened to my eyes, I am so frustrated because all they did was call me and tell me not to wear them, to throw them out and to come back in for another pair to try. After two weeks of eye drops the lady told me I dont need to use them any more and within a day of stopping the full infection and pain is back. I woke up this morning in pain, my eyes won’t stop watering and I look horrible.I am thinking I will never trust to wear contact lenses again. All I am offered is a new pair to try… I can’t believe that a company can be allowed to get away with this… all their key people should have to go through this themselves and maybe they will take our pain and frustration into account and run their business with some sort of integrity!

From Leslie on September 16, 2011: My son got these contacts as his first time trying contact lenses. He is 12. I am shocked at the thought that these lenses could have harmed my childs vision. He wore the trial pair with out any problems, but when we opened the new box he had problems with the right eye being blurry & sore. We cleaned the lenses overnight & tried them again the next day. We threw away that pair & tried another pair. Still the same. They were blurry & hurt. The right lens did not hurt. We then tried 2 left lenses because his Rx was almost the same in both eyes. That worked. I told the vision center where we purchased them about the problem & they reordered the contacts fo us thinking there was a problem. My son continued to wear the 2 left lenses. He then told me they were itching & bothered his eyes & refused to wear them. Yesterday I found out they have been recalled. I called my eye care provider & they ordered new trials & told him not to wear them again. We purchase the lenses at Wal-Mart in Elkhart Indiana. This was an eyeopeining experience for me.

From Deirdre on September 18, 2011: I too went to the emergency room in July 2011 – severe pain that i cannot describe – I also was treated for a corneal abrasion and sent home with 3 different prescriptions and oxicodine for the Pain!! I am utterly speachless that my eye doctor did not warn me of the recall – I even went to my doctor’s office 3 seperate times complaining of my left eye. I am appalled at the lack of communication and want to know what exactly the “residue” is?

From Deirdre (again) on September 18, 2011: I want to know exactly what this “residue” is and plan on taking legal action. I also went to the er with severe pain in my left eye. This pain was worse than child birth. I too had a severe corneal abrasion. I went to my eye doctor THREE TIMES complaining of my left eye. Why didn’t they know about the recall????? This is pure negligence. I bought my lenses in Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania from my eye doctor.

From Diana on September 22, 2011: I scratched my cornea twice because of these lenses! It was the worst pain I have ever felt and I am still paying off the ER bills. I am furious that these lenses were the cause. My eye doctor called me about the recall, claiming it was due to the contacts causing “dryness” and said they would be replacing my lenses with another type at no charge. This was after the first corneal abraision, which I just assumed was my fault- that I took out the lens improperty, which is what the ER doc said is usually the cause of these abraisions. But I have been wearing contacts for years and this had never happened before. I did not tell the doctor about the abraision, because they only asked if I was experiencing any issues related to my contacts being dry or uncomfortable. Then I had the second abraision this past weekend and thought maybe the recall had something to do with what’s happening to me. So I looked online and found this website and immediately called my eye doctor. The nurse on the phone brushed off my concerns, saying that the lenses were recalled only because they caused dryness. I just went to pick up the replacement lenses and I took a print out of all of these complaints to my doctor. The nurse told me that “You can find anything on the internet” and again said these contacts only cause dryness. Then she gave the print out back to me without even looking at it. I am furious and am switching eye doctors! If they had been upfront with me from the beginning, I wouldn’t have scratched my cornea a second time! And what the heck is this residue? It’s all very scary because I feel like we’re being lied to!

From Court, on September 22: Picked these up on a wednesday. Friday I tore off half my cornea in one eye and scratched the hell out of the other. I have been wearing contacts for over 10 years and i have never had this issue. Pasco, Washington is where I purchased them. Today I got a call from 1800contacts telling me about this recall. I looked up my lot # as advised and they are part of the recalled batch My new eye doctor is meeting with her associates to discuss how they plan on dealing with their patients’ needs. Has anyone heard or filed a class action law suit? I missed a day of work, ruined my labor day weekend and put me through hours/days of pain.

From Richard on September 29, 2011: I started wearing Coopervision contact lenses 4 months ago upon my opticians advice and I have found them comfortable and easy to manage ever since. I didn’t realise there was a recal on some of their products, I was lucky enough not to have experienced the faulty batch, but have the greatest of sympathy with those who have experienced any sort of pain. Found a health advice on the Vision express website really beneficial in the past for any contact lenses related issues I’ve had, might be of some help.

From Brittany on September 30, 2011: I have had redness, constant tearing, swelling, pain , itching and blured vision in my left eye for a couple weeks now since I put in a new pair of contacts. I keep taking my contacts out after a couple of hours of wearing them because they hurt my eyes. At first I thought maybe it was allergies but then the whole area around my eye became tender to the touch and my boyfriend pointed out that the symptoms are only in my left eye. I thought it might be an issue with my contact since that’s when it started so I just looked online and found out about this recall on Avaira Toric. I plan on calling the doctor tomorrow. Also I would like to mention that since I got this order of contacts there have been 3 that I have thrown out because they had visible blurry spots on them that would not come off no matter how much I washed them.

From Christina on October 2, 2011: A friend of mine told me to check on recalls with contacts since I have been suffering with problems since the first week in July. It started when I went for an eye exam and got fitted for new lenses. I was given a new pair and that’s when my troubles began. I had itchy eyes, some burning pain, swollen eyelids and discharge. I have been treated twice with antibiotics and my eyes clear. Then treated as allergies. Every time I put in a new pair I am back to the same problems. Now I am on steroid drops because my eyelid inflammation and itching won’t go away. I have not worn lenses in a month. I can’t believe non of my doctors thought of this. I have spent so much on doctors visits and medications. I am going to tell my doctor tomorrow and contact the company. I can’t believe I have been suffering for months over this. I wear Ultra Flex toric lenses and I bought them the first week of August.

From Jennifer on October 5, 2011: I had the exact same problem with 2 different boxes of CooperVision Frequency55 toric lenses, both from the same lot #3698000705. The first box was bought in April, and after going through half the pack and having the same problem each time I put in a new lens (hazy vision that remained even after taking the lens out and discomfort) I requested a replacement for those lenses. The replacement lenses were fine. I just popped in a new contact from the refill box I received over the weekend and was revisited by the same problem. I stupidly decided to “deal with it” until I got home from work and by that time the pain was unbearable and my vision remained blurred after removing the lens. I went to the ER and the doctor said my cornea has abrasions all over the surface. I am still in pain and hope this doesnt happen to anyone else!

From Steve on October 6, 2011: I live in Phoenix AZ and had the exact same thing happen to me. I ordered my Avaira Toric lenses from Lens.com. First pair made my vision cloud up after 20 minutes. Second pair I left in for 8 hours. When I went to take them out they were stuck on my eyes, so much so that I scratched the surface of my eyeballs taking them out. Pain was so intense I was blind and couldn’t open my eyes for two days. Eye Dr. gave me a salve and pain meds, but there was little relief for the first couple days. Just the slightest twitch of my eyes against the eyelids was agony. I feel for anyone who has gone through the same thing. I’m glad I now know the reason my contacts were messed up, and know it wasn’t my fault.