02 Optix Contact Lenses - Dangerous Contacts!!!!!!

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Saturday, January 13, 2007. My 24 year old son, whom has been wearing contacts for several years now put the Optix in and was watching TV for about an hour. All of the sudden - he felt something in his right eye. He went to take the right contact out and it would not come out. He tried periodically thinking his fingers were just too wet or the tears his eye was producing was the problem. Throughout the day, it became much more painful until he could not open his eye at all. I shined a flashlight into this eye and found something between his eye and this contact. He then tried so many times to take this contact out and was not successful. We tried to wash it out with solution leaning his head over the bed and squirting eye drops solution to no avail! He was in pain, his eye now so red he cannot even bare to open it. I started making some calls to optometrists and ophthalmologists to get some advise as to how we can get this contact out. Of course - no one was open at 8:30 PM Saturday night. The Urgent Care facility in Keller, Texas was just closing. We live two minutes from them - I begged them to stay and it would only take us 2 minutes to get there - she put me on hold and said they had already closed the doors. I then called the Baylor Grapevine emergency room - they told me about a four hour wait. By this time - my son was really in pain in that eye and he is NO baby! He was crying by this time. I called another Urgent care facility in Southlake which was open until 10PM. I opted to take him there due to the agony my son was experiencing with this eye. They did not take Aetna Insurance as they were having a dispute with Aetna. She told me the visit would be $150.00. Well if I have a choice between $75.00 for an emergency visit and a 4-5 hour wait with my son in agony and $150.00 and no wait - which one do you guess I chose. Yes, the one in Southlake. We were seen immediately. We arrived around 9PM or a couple of minutes past - took some information - went right into the DR office , one hour later we finally got the contact out! YES, one HOUR later!!!! It had created a Vacuum on his eye! The doctor tried everything! It was not easy sitting in that room watching my son go through that! It was extremely painful trying to get this contact out. My son has worn contacts now for well over 6 years and never a problem one! This contact created a vacuum and it was literally suction cupped to his eye. The doctor prescribed some eye antibiotic and Vicodan. Yes, my son was in that much pain, plus there are now three fairly deep scratches on his eyeball from trying all day on and off to get this contact loose! Will he wear this brand again - not over my dead body! The $150.00 visit turned out to be $250.00. $150.00 just to be seen by the urgent care doctor plus any additional materials or time spent on the problem. Of course after 10PM all of the pharmacies in Keller was closed, so I am waiting for them to open. I gave him Tylenol with codeine last night as this is all we had!

I am going to try to turn this into my Aetna insurance, probably to no avail, but I am also going to contact Ciba regarding this contact. I will be writing a letter to Ciba to let them know what happened. Freak accident or faulty lenses or DANGEROUS lenses - you decide.

Cheryl

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02 Optix
This is a freak accident. Occasionally a contact lens will take an aberrant osmosis, especially one just opened, and it sticks to the first layer of the cornea.

If you hydrate and handle it properly it will lift and remove easily. If you tug and pull it rips the corneal surface and you have the situation you have described. Of course this is hard for the average person to resolve. But let me reassure you that the damage, even though quite painful, was very minor at worst.

Actually O2 Optix is an excellent silicon-hydrogel lens. It has and excellent diffusion constant for good oxygen to the cornea, it wets nicely, resists deposits and has good optics. And, it does it all for a low cost.

The situation you described might happen again with any soft lens.

Next time just keep flushing the eye with saline until the lens comes loose and don't pull on it until it does.

The sin that was committed her was that no eye doctor helped you. If a patient calls me at 2:00AM I take care of them no matter how minor the problem is. Certainly this did not require an emergency room, if some eye doc would have just given you a few hints

Respectfully,
drddd

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02 optix lenses
I just started wearing them and they do let my eyes breathe like theyre supposed to but i cannot get them out either and it's been 2 days, believe me it's no freak accident there's something wrong with the material of the lenses ive been wearing contacts for 8 years, there's something wrong with the material- it's too thin and the moistness doesnt help any. contacts are supposed to pop out of your eye once you rub them around and down toward your lid, but these just go under and then slide back into place on the eye it's really freaky- i dk how the heck im gonna get these out of my eyes!!!

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O2 OPTIX - dangerous contact lenses111
I also have worn these contact lenses and am still suffering long term eye injuries. There were a batch of these lenses that were recalled on a "trade-level" in January of 2007, and my eye doctor put me into these lenses less than 2 wks prior to the recall, not even mentioning that the lenses could be (and were) included in the lot #s of defective lenses. I only recently found out that I'm now not even a candidate for Lasik, and because of severve cornea damage have even lost some vision in my right (my dominant) eye. I have recently been doing some research on this..something needs to be done so that this does not happen to anyone else in the future, and I'm desperately trying to find people who have had similar problems..and I am searching for recent info or people who are still suffering. I had absolutely no idea where to start, but l know in my heart something needs to be done. If someone has, for example, knee replacement surgery and the medical device is recalled, the patient is notified..I sincerely feel that someone's vision should be considered just as important--I feel I should have had a choice about putting these contacts into my eyes, even if the company felt that the chances for medical risk seemed low. It obviously was of some concern to be recalled at ANY level. I have worn contact lenses and glasses for years and have never had problems.. until wearing these lenses. The problems (eye infections, styes, pain behind my right eye, and migranes which I never had before) started when I was prescribed these contacts, and I continue to suffer the unfortunate consequences attributed to O2 OPTIX contacts. I am dedicated to doing the research necessary to ensure this does not happen to anyone else, and will continue on as long as it takes. I welcome any comments regarding this issue, and would definitely appreciate any feedback from people who have worn these contact lenses. Also, c.wilson..I hope your son is ok now; and twinbutterfly, you too! The more I learn, the more dissapointed I become, especially as I am finding out more and more people who have been suffering because of something completely out of our control. I hope no one has to go blind before something is done. Thanks for listening. Sad

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Are they still have some problem?
hi,
After 1 year, does O2 Optix contact lenses still getting any problem?
I got a good deal from http://www.lenscompare.com/o2-optix-contact-lenses-p-262.html, just worry about anything problem with O2 optix, the box is not opened yet, shall I return it back to the store?

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O2Optix contact lenses
I personally would never put these lenses into my eyes again, but only because of what happened due to the recalled lenses I was never told about. These lenses were recalled back in 2006, and the company says they have taken care of the problem. If you want to, you can go to CibaVision website and check the lot# on your lenses just to be safe, but I don't think it's necessary. The problems I'm still experiencing, I'm certain, are from the defective lenses I was wearing a couple years back. If you have any discomfort (with ANY contacts) just remove them right away, and if necessary, see your eye doctor right away if problems continue. My only concern with ANY contact lens now, is that if the company recalls them from the stores or eye doctors, they are not always required to let us (the patients wearing the contacts) know about the recall, and that is what happened to me..I personally think they should HAVE to let us know. Just be careful, no matter what brand of contacts you use..you only have one set of eyes! Good luck!

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02 Optix Contact Lenses - Dangerous Contacts!!!!!!

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