On Thursday at my new eye doctor's office, I noticed a sign taped onto the paper towel dispenser as I was washing my hands in the bathroom. It said in large bold print to discontinue using Bausch & Lomb ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution immediately as it can cause eye fungus and thus was recalled. "Hmmmm," I thought to myself. "I wonder what I use." I made a mental note to check when I got home, then promptly forgot about it because that's what happens with 97% of my mental notes.
As I was putting in my lenses yesterday morning, the note resurface on my mind's desk top. I took a gander at the 4 oz. bottle sitting on my nightstand. ReNu with MoistureLoc. Same with an unopened travel-size bottle. Shit. (Incidentally, both also expired in Jan. 2007. Oops.) I rummaged through the other free travel-size bottles of solution provided by my former eye doctor. The remaining four were other brands, although one expired in April 2007.
Two things scare me about this discovery. The first is that the products were apparently recalled in May 2006, and this was the first I heard anything about it. (Thanks, former eye doctor, for looking out for your patients.) The second thing that scares me is that I actually sat there for a few minutes debating whether I should throw the recalled products out. My internal debate:
Me: Damn, these are recalled! I'm lucky that I didn't get an eye fungus! I better throw the two bottles out ASAP.
Cheap Bastard Me: What? One of those bottles is half full and the other one isn't even opened! How can you waste this stuff!?!? Sure, you have another 4.5 more travel-sized bottles of perfectly good other contact lens solution, but you might actually need to go buy more since the new eye doc doesn't give out free bottles!
Me: (Hesitates.) Good point, but these expired last year anyway and I'm not pushing my luck. (Reaches for bad bottles.)
CBM: Nooooooo!
Anyway, I battled CBM and won. The recalled products are in the trash. I am proud to announce that I am now using the bottle of contact lens solution that expired in April 2007.
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I know that I told either you or Dana or both of you about the recall. Why are you still using the expired bottle!!??
ReplyDeleteI may actually not have been using that type at the time. Dr. Katz usually gave use MultiPurpose ReNu, which is probably what I was using then. Still, he should have sent a letter to his patients reminding them that they should throw any bottles of MoistureLoc that he's given them in the past year out. And I'm using the expired bottle because I'm sure it's fine. How can contact lens solution go bad?
ReplyDeleteIf that's the brand he was endorsing by handing out samples of, it's his responsibility to warn patients of the recall.
ReplyDelete:P
I would have had exactly that same internal monologue. And Cheap Me might have won.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you won! That being said, I recently took some very expired Excedrin Migraine.
ReplyDelete