Fda Investigates Eye-Drop Claim Woman Says Overly Acidic Visine Damaged Her E

Eye drops that reportedly damaged a Wallace woman’s corneas are being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA and the maker of the drops, Pfizer, Inc., are testing the Visine to see if it is abnormally acidic, according to spokesmen for the pharmaceutical company.

“This is not the first time we’ve gotten a complaint such as this, although in the past they’ve all proven to be nothing,” said Pfizer’s Brian McGlynn. “We take each report quite seriously.”

The FDA has had no other recent reports regarding Visine, said spokesman Alan Bennett.

“I can say with confidence that this is an isolated incident,” he said. “I don’t want people pulling the product (from shelves) in Spokane.”

Excell Foods, where Runa Thordarson works and bought the product, has taken Visine A.C. from its shelves as a precaution. So has Tabor Modern Drugs of Wallace.

The FDA was alerted by Dr. James Rising, who treated Thordarson after she used the eye drops last Saturday evening and reported a burning sensation.

The doctor did a litmus test and found the Visine to have a ph level of 5.5, McGlynn said. That’s more acidic than the 6.0 level it is supposed to have.

“But the litmus is not as precise as some other tests,” McGlynn said Friday.

Thordarson, who couldn’t be reached for comment, works weekends at Excell. She was there last Saturday evening when she used the drops.

She hasn’t returned to work, said Excell owner Jon Cantamessa.

“Her eyes are still a little swollen. She’s still doctoring,” Cantamessa said.

The doctor apparently gave the bottle of drops to the FDA, McGlynn said. The company, which routinely saves samples from each batch of its products, was testing those samples late Friday.

, DataTimes