Sixty-eight-year-old Carla Oliva of Florida developed a severe eye infection after using EziCare Artificial Tears for her dry eyes. She is now speaking up after losing one of her eyes.
“I cried constantly, asking why this happened to me. How could this have happened to me?” she told CNN in Spanish, breaking her silence months after the harrowing experience.
“I was searching for an answer: What happened to me? At what moment? How? When? What did I do? And to not have an answer, that is the most terrible thing.”
According to Oliva, she was prescribed the eye drops by a medical center in Hialeah, Florida, last May. She used it for two months to relieve the uncomfortable feeling due to her dry eyes.
Unfortunately, she woke up on Aug. 1 with a much worse feeling. Her right eye started to burn, itch, tear and turn red. When she had it checked with an ophthalmologist, the latter prescribed her antibiotics for a corneal scratch.
The medication did not help. Her symptoms even got worse. When she visited the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Oliva learned that she had a large ulcer associated with the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.
P. aeruginosa is a type of bacteria commonly found in soil and water. It is known to cause infections in the blood, lungs and other body parts in humans after surgery, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In February, the CDC issued a warning after receiving reports about one death and at least three permanent vision loss cases related to the EziCare Artificial Tears.
The public health agency identified 56 isolates of antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa from 50 case patients across 11 states between May 17, 2022, and Jan. 18. 2023.
Days after the CDC warning, Global Pharma Healthcare announced the recall of its Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops distributed via EzriCare and Delsam Pharma due to possible contamination with P. aeruginosa.
“Use of contaminated artificial tears can result in the risk of eye infections…
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