(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued a warning to consumers to not purchase or use certain eye drops from several major brands due to the risk of eye infection.
The agency warned against the use of 26 over-the-counter eye drop products and said using them could result in partial vision loss or blindness.
The eye drops are marketed by CVS Health, Rite Aid Cardinal Health along with Target’s up & up brand and Velocity Pharma, the FDA said in a statement. It has also asked the manufacturer to recall all lots of the product.
CVS, Rite Aid and Target are removing the products from their store shelves and websites, according to the FDA. It also said that products branded as Leader, Rugby and Velocity may still be available to purchase in stores and online and advised against purchasing them.
FDA recommended consumers to properly discard these products, and advised patients who have signs or symptoms of an eye infection after using these products to talk to their health care provider or seek medical care immediately.
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Shri Navaratnam)
