FDA warns against using contaminated eye drops

Kristen Fischer
·1 min read

What’s in your medicine cabinet may not be top of mind right now, but pay attention to any eye drops you have on hand—the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning people that some contaminated varieties could cause a serious eye infection that may lead to vision loss.

The alert was issued for 26 over-the-counter eye drop products. Some are the store brand of eye drops from Target, CVS and Rite Aid.

Though eye drops are meant to be sterile, the FDA found unsanitary conditions at a manufacturing facility, including positive bacteria tests. Applying contaminated eye drops to the eye can be especially harmful as the process bypasses some of the body’s other defense mechanisms against infection.

Though there haven’t been any reports of injuries, the FDA wants people to seek medical care if they have signs or symptoms of an eye infection if they use the products.

In the meantime, toss out any of the drops if they’re in your home.

Which eye drops could be risky? Affected brands include products made by:

  • CVS Health

  • Leader (Cardinal Health)

  • Rugby (Cardinal Health)

  • Rite Aid

  • Target Up&Up

  • Velocity Pharma

  • Walmart

Target, Rite Aid, Walmart and CVS are ditching the products from store shelves and will stop selling them online. The products from Leader, Velocity and Rugby may still be in stores or online: the agency warns not to buy them. The FDA has shared the full list of affected products here. (They recently added a single eye drop sold under Walmart’s Equate brand to the list.)

Again, if you unknowingly used one of the aforementioned products and had an issue, report it here.