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Vivienne Chow

Sales of ReNu are suspended after health officials issue advice

Bausch & Lomb is voluntarily suspending sales of its popular 'no rub' contact lens solution ReNu in Hong Kong after taking similar action in Singapore last week.

The action came after advice from the health department, which said 12 of 16 people suffering a corneal disease, fungal keratitis, since June had used the product.

A Hong Kong woman who said she had switched to using ReNu in recent months had an operation for a corneal ulcer last night.

Bausch & Lomb (Hong Kong)'s commercial director, Raymond Cheng Ngai-lim, insisted there was no scientific evidence to show a direct link between the infections and ReNu.

On Saturday the Centre for Heath Protection warned users of the solution to clean and disinfect their contact lenses after reports of the cases in Singapore.

Mr Cheng said the Hong Kong office had not reacted slowly. 'The situation in Hong Kong was different from Singapore. The number of cases in Hong Kong was much smaller.'

He said that since the suspension of sales in Singapore, B&L had received about 200 inquiries. Consumers wishing to return the solution could contact the company for further arrangements, he said.

The Department of Health said that after a meeting with representatives of B&L, medical experts  and the Consumer Council, the department had advised the company to take necessary measures.

The department said that based on the Hospital Authority's in-patient discharge records there had been an average of two or three cases of fungal keratitis a month between June and January. Of the 16 people interviewed by the department, 12 had reported using the Bausch & Lomb solution.

The department said that in Singapore there had been 39 cases since last year, with a peak of cases in January. Thirty-four of these said they had used the solution.

The woman who had surgery last night, who would identify herself only as Mabel, 38, said: 'I ran out of my previous solution and bought ReNu, which was cheaper. After using it for a month, my left eye started to hurt, which turned out to be cornea infection.

'My eyesight might not recover 100 per cent. My doctor said that it would be a miracle if my eye's condition remains stable in the coming three to four months.'

Mabel said even mild light could cause her unbearable pain and she found it hard to keep her eye open. She was admitted to Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital over the Lunar New Year.

'The government should have taken action earlier. Too many people are using this product. Not every eye specialist provides bacterial tests and not every patient would associate their illness with the solution,' she said.

The deputy chief executive of the Consumer Council, Connie Lau Yin-hing, welcomed B&L's decision. She urged consumers not to be lazy and remember to rub the contact lenses as the action helped improve the solutions' performance of disinfection, despite the 'no rub' slogan in advertisements for these solutions.



Eye-care  giant pulls contact lens solution