You have likely heard that certain over the counter dry eye drops have caused significant harm and have been recalled and removed from shelves.  In fact, so far 68 people in 16 States have contracted a very serious multi-drug resistant gram-negative Pseudomonas bacterial infection, causing vision loss in eight patients.  Four others lost an eye, and three others died.  I am not aware of any reported cases in Nevada.  The drops are sold at Walmart and Amazon. 

These eyedrops were sold in preservative-free multi-dose bottles, a new idea to avoid the use of the small plastic vials common today.  Though plastic waste is a huge concern, in the case of medical care involving your eyes, safety must come first.  Affordability is also a concern.  With inflation and regulations, name brand over-the-counter eye drops are pricey, but this case illustrates the danger of imported generic drugs, and the need for more on-shore manufacturing. 

The drops in question were imported from India by Global Pharma and sold under the trade names Ezricare and Delsam preservative-free artificial tears.  Two other brands of eyedrops have also been recalled.  Brimonidine Tartrate from Apotex is a generic of Lumify for redness relief.  And Purely Soothing 15% MSM from Pharmedica.  They have been removed from shelves.

Safety rules for all eye drops.

Use single use disposable ampules only, whether preserved or preservative-free.

Respect expiration dates and discard opened dropper bottles after a month.

Avoid touching the dropper to your eyelashes or lids. 

Buy name brands from reputable sources.

Refrigerate your drops.  Feels good in the summer. 

My favorites

The gold standard for aqueous based tears are Theratears (America) and Oasis Tears (Glendora, CA)

Major brands Refresh (Allergan, Ireland), and Systane (Alcon, Ft Worth Tx) are highly reliable. Coupons are available on-line.   

We stock the lipid based Retaine (Ocusoft, Texas, manufactured in France) brand in office. 

Call us with any redness and discharge that occurs after using any over the counter eye drops. 

Edward J Malik, OD