In the news, people dying, losing sight, from eye drops?

March 24, 2023 5:54 PM

Is it people with medical conditions dying from an eyedrop? It's been in the news in the last few days.
posted by amfgf to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Best answer: The CDC is investigating recalled eyedrops after infections cause death and blindness

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it's investigating a drug-resistant strain of bacteria that caused severe injuries in 68 patients, including three deaths, across the U.S.

The CDC says most of the patients infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa reported using artificial tears or eyedrops.

Ten different brands of ophthalmic drugs were involved in these cases, the CDC said. But the most common was Ezri Care Artificial Tears, which the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to stop purchasing last month.

The CDC confirmed a matching strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in opened bottles of the product and says it will test unopened bottles to test whether contamination occurred during manufacturing.

CDC - Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) - Pseudomonas aeruginosa – Artificial Tears

CDC is collaborating with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state and local health departments to investigate a multistate outbreak of an extensively drug-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The outbreak strain, carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Verona integron-mediated metallo-β-lactamase and Guiana extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (VIM-GES-CRPA), had never been reported in the United States prior to this outbreak. The outbreak is associated with multiple types of infections, including eye infections. The investigation to date has identified artificial tears as a common exposure for many patients.

At this time, CDC and FDA recommend clinicians and patients stop using EzriCare or Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears products pending additional guidance from CDC and FDA.

posted by zamboni at 6:03 PM on March 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Additional coverage from Ars Technica.
posted by aramaic at 6:40 PM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Is it people with medical conditions dying from an eyedrop? It's been in the news in the last few days.

I'm not sure what your question is. Are you asking if it's true?
posted by some little punk in a rocket at 11:01 PM on March 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Mod note: Note: I think OP is asking if the people who died had existing medical conditions that might have made these infections more likely to be fatal.
posted by taz (staff) at 2:38 AM on March 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you taz, for putting the key word in there "existing"
Maybe from now on I will add "see detail"" at the end of my questions.

Eye drops --> removed eyes, and deaths. That's what made me ask the question aobout existing medical conditions.

If anyone out there sees the answer to that question, please post it? I find that should be up there right after naming the product.

Also, I wonder about the numbers, in the other countries it was sold.
posted by amfgf at 12:50 PM on March 25, 2023

Response by poster: I should add which existing medical conditions are most likely lead to death, not just that a medical condition.
posted by amfgf at 1:37 PM on March 25, 2023

Best answer: I think the nature of your question suggests that an explanation of how this all works may be more helpful.

Pseudomonas is an incredibly tenacious bacteria. It's good at sticking around, it forms biofilms to block immune contact, it's got resistances.

Antibiotics often require a functional immune system to identify and clear the bacteria that the antibiotic is slowing/inhibiting/maybe straight up-killing.

Folks who have less-than-ideally functional immune systems struggle to clear bacteria. This is a lot worse when that bacteria does not respond to antibiotics. Antibiotics are also damaging to organs, especially as you climb the ladder. Sometimes you trade a hit to the kidneys in order to save a life.

People with conditions that would hinder an immune system's ability to respond to a bacteria include people who have undergone any cancer treatment, who are being treated or not treated with biologics for any autoimmune disorder, people who have had a transplanted organ (usually lifetime immunosuppressant), people with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus (blood fulllllll of food), chronic steroid users, among many others.

Conditions that would render someone less likely to survive a fuckton of antibiotics or an episode of septicemia and shock and the interventions required to see someone through it include people who have heart disease, people with lung disease (COPD), people with peripheral vascular disease, people with chronic kidney or liver disease.

If a young and healthy person put the Pseudomonas drops in their eyes, they'd probably get a terrible case of MDR Pseudomonas and still likely could lose an eye or die but they would be able to withstand a lot of treatment, which improves their chances.
posted by sibboleth at 4:50 PM on March 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I know a healthy, 40ish man who used these drops. Although he did not die, he almost lost his eye sight. He was in very bad shape for about three months and has required surgeries. He was fortunate to have access to excellent healthcare right away. So it seems bad enough that you may not need to have other medical issues to die/lose your eye.
posted by maxg94 at 3:58 PM on March 26, 2023

Response by poster: zamboni, aramaic, sibboleth, maxg94, Thank you.
zamboni yiur first link is NPR's article about it. I don't have a problem with NPR, I just wanted to let you know in case you can it it changed if it is possible.


aramaic, Thanks for the link. I googeled it and I almost passed it. It sounded like it just reports and analyses IT news. Even the homepage doesn't mention other news, just IT, unless they changed it since.
siblboleth, thanks. Would you post the source?
maxg94, Lucky him, or luck has nothing to do with it. No such think as being too healthy.
posted by amfgf at 3:31 PM on March 28, 2023