they were taking certain packages of them off the shelf yesterday at
work (Wal-Mart) because they were sent a memo from Bentonville saying
that some of them have some "ionic problem that could lead to lens
movement and corneal irritation" blah blah blah.  that memo was sent to
the WalMart vision center staff only.  I am a part-time doc there and I
was never sent anything.  i went ahead and trialed a few people in 02
Optix anyway yesterday but i had some lingering doubts.

thats all i know.  yeah, something is up but it doesn't appear to be
affect ALL powers of the lens just some lot numbers.  i believe a
similar screw-up has been the cause of the slow release of their toric
lenses too.  and to think that CIBA had the whole silicone hydrogel
thing to themselves for years and now they've just botched it up good.

===============

CIBA Vision CORPORATE STATEMENT

O2OPTIXT Recall & Supply

CIBA Vision is conducting a voluntary trade-level recall of select
lots of spherical O2OPTIXT (lotrafilcon B) contact lenses, distributed
primarily in the United States, and to a lesser degree in other
countries, excluding Japan.  No other CIBA Vision lenses are involved
with this recall.  CIBA Vision has notified the appropriate health
authorities of this voluntary trade-level recall and is currently
notifying customers.

This recall is voluntary, proactive, and represents a responsible
course of action to assure our products consistently meet customer
expectations.

We are taking this action because we have identified that some lenses
in these lots did not meet our standards for ion permeability, a
material characteristic which contributes to lens movement on the eye.

A medical assessment, confirmed by external experts, determined that
the probability of a serious adverse event associated with use of
lenses with reduced ion permeability is remote.  However, these lenses
may cause persistent discomfort and/or foreign body irritation, and
superficial corneal staining may be observed.  The medical risk
associated with these signs and symptoms is low to negligible, and
upon removal of the lens, they typically resolve within 2-24 hours.
No serious adverse events have been attributed to this issue anywhere
in the world.

CIBA Vision has already implemented manufacturing process
improvements, and the ion permeability issue has been addressed.
However, product availability will continue to be affected.  We
recognize the impact of this recall and product availability issues on
our customers and consumers and we appreciate their patience and
continued support.  We have already taken significant measures to
build more capacity and strengthen our manufacturing and quality
infrastructure.  We are confident that over time all of these combined
changes will give us the capacity and flexibility to meet the
expectations of our customers in the future.

Anon E  Muss wrote:

My two remaining boxes of lenses are from lot numbers the recall
affects, and the symptoms described in the recall letter
(<URL:http://www.us.cibavision.com/docs/recall_letter.pdf>) help
explain a peculiar thing that happened to me last week. I have very
successfully worn the lenses on a five or six days in, one or two days
out schedule for going on two years
(<URL:http://groups.google.com/group/sci.med.vision/msg/e9347849f7843096>). I
put a fresh set in on Sunday and a few hours later the right lens
began to not reposition itself right, resulting in blurry vision. I
figured it'd fix itself overnight.

It didn't, and by midday Monday it was painful, like a foreign object
under the lens, with accompanying redness. I got home a little early,
took the lens out to see if I'd put it in backwards (I hadn't, of
course), rinsed it off with fresh saline, and put it back in. No luck:
The discomfort immediately returned. I gave up, took both lenses out,
and wore glasses for the rest of the week.

The redness vanished within a few days and I wore another set this
past week without incident before hearing about the recall, but only
tonight--after removing the lenses on schedule late last night--did I
check the lot numbers. Fortunately I have a single set from unaffected
lots I can wear next week while presumably awaiting new lenses,
whether from my mail-order lens dealer or from Ciba itself.

Should I bother trying to see my optometrist regarding this issue? If
it matters, my right eye is one that I've had issues from GPC and
blepharitis
(<URL:http://groups.google.com/group/sci.med.vision/msg/780b7a33ef2da19a>)
which I treat with Patanol drops twice a day on days when I don't wear
lenses and daily eye scrubs in the shower with a washcloth on days I
do. With this regimen the worst that happens that the right eyelashes
will every four or five weeks once or twice stick together a wee bit
in the far corner (as opposed to the massive crusting I've described
in the previous postings with different lenses and
pre-regimen). However, from the letter it didn't seem like I had much
to worry about given the lack of additional symptoms post-lens
removal. I have my yearly exam coming up in early February.

My son has had nothing but problems since he has started using 0
Optix.  His eyes have been frequently red, itchy, and generall
irritated.  He has allergies anyway but even with the allerg
medication he takes, which helps with the bumps on back of eye lids
he still has problems with these lens.  I just found out about th
recall when I called his eye Dr's office to renew the prescription.
How can I find out what lot numbers are affected

My son has had nothing but problems since he has started using 0
Optix.  His eyes have been frequently red, itchy, and generall
irritated.  He has allergies anyway but even with the allerg
medication he takes, which helps with the bumps on back of eye lids
he still has problems with these lens.  I just found out about th
recall when I called his eye Dr's office to renew the prescription.
How can I find out what lot numbers are affected

I use these contacts, and I recently had a corneal abrasion/infection.  Guess what - my supply at home was part of this recall.  I don't know if my problem was related to bad contacts or not, but sure seems odd.  I've been using contacts for well over 10 years and never a problem before

I use these contacts, and I recently had a corneal abrasion/infection.  Guess what - my supply at home was part of this recall.  I don't know if my problem was related to bad contacts or not, but sure seems odd.  I've been using contacts for well over 10 years and never a problem before.

My girls and I, had an eye exam on 1/15/07 and the eye MD, praised O2 Optix lenses instead of the B/L softlens 38 we were accustomed to, we went back yesterday on 1/27/07 for follow-up to see if the O2 Optix "fit" right.. On my daughters they prescribed O2 Optix, and I had them change my RX back to B/L because I could not get my O2 Optix trial pair to focus right....We went to another supplier and then we found out that the O2 Optix were on recall...the first MD never mentioned the recall...