Consumers in the United States have been warned not to use the EzriCare brand of artificial tears manufactured by a Chennai-based company. The US regulatory move comes only days after the CDC published a notice in response to the discovery of 55 disease cases across 12 states. After a study suggested a link between eye drops and germs that are resistant to common antibiotics, raising the risk of eye infections, vision loss, and even death.
A Tamil Nadu-based company has voluntarily recalled an eye drop from the United States after it was connected to a drug-resistant infection, following two incidents in which syrups made in India were responsible for the deaths of children in the Gambia and Uzbekistan. The eye drop has been associated with 55 cases of infections, vision loss, and even death as a result of the infection entering the circulation.
A day after the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning recommending people to avoid using and selling the eye drops, a team of six central and state drug inspectors hurried to the company's plant, located 40 km south of Chennai.
"It is a contract manufacturing plant that supplies the US market through others. This precise medicine is not available in India," according to Health Ministry sources. The eye drop was distributed by ErziCare and Delsam Pharma, according to the company's announcement.
The medication, which is used to treat eye irritation or dryness, is available without a prescription. "The product was distributed nationwide in the United States via the internet," according to the company's statement.
Unlike in the Gambia and Uzbekistan, where Indian officials halted production after concerns were raised, the Chennai company withdrew the product itself.