The Associated Press wrote:
The source of a spike in dangerous fungal eye infections linked by federal health officials to a contact lens solution sold by Bausch & Lomb Inc. remains a mystery, the eye-care products maker said Wednesday.
"As far as speculation about theories, there's a lot of them, we've run a lot of them to ground and come up with nothing," the company's chief executive, Ron Zarella, said in a conference call with analysts.
"Every additional test we've run suggests that the formulation is as safe and effective as anything on the market and in particular with regard to Fusarium."
The company halted U.S. shipments of its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution Monday night while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigates 109 reports of infection caused by a fungus called Fusarium in patients in 17 states.
The agency has made no direct link between ReNu and the infections, traced back to June 2005, but a high incidence of the affected people had used the solution.
Bausch & Lomb, which also makes contact lenses, ophthalmic drugs and vision-correction surgical instruments, stopped short of pulling the brand, made at its factory in Greenville, S.C., but merchants led by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. began removing it from store shelves Tuesday.
"As far as speculation about theories, there's a lot of them, we've run a lot of them to ground and come up with nothing," the company's chief executive, Ron Zarella, said in a conference call with analysts.
"Every additional test we've run suggests that the formulation is as safe and effective as anything on the market and in particular with regard to Fusarium."
The company halted U.S. shipments of its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution Monday night while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigates 109 reports of infection caused by a fungus called Fusarium in patients in 17 states.
The agency has made no direct link between ReNu and the infections, traced back to June 2005, but a high incidence of the affected people had used the solution.
Bausch & Lomb, which also makes contact lenses, ophthalmic drugs and vision-correction surgical instruments, stopped short of pulling the brand, made at its factory in Greenville, S.C., but merchants led by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. began removing it from store shelves Tuesday.
