Federal officials say three people have died as part of a growing number of cases of infections from a rare, extensively drug-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa found in some artificial tears. There have also been 8 reports of vision loss and 4 reports of enucleation (surgical removal of eyeball).

In an update posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, as of March 14, 2023, 68 patients in 16 states (CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, NC, NJ, NM, NY, NV, PA, SD, TX, UT, WA, WI) have been identified with VIM-GES-CRPA (Verona integron-mediated metallo-β-lactamase), a rare strain of extensively drug-resistant P. aeruginosa. Of those, 37 patients were linked to four health care facility clusters. Dates of specimen collection were from May 2022 to February 2023.

The investigation to date has identified artificial tears as a common exposure for many patients. At this time, CDC and FDA recommend clinicians and patients stop using EzriCare or Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears products pending additional guidance from CDC and FDA. Patients reported over 10 different brands of artificial tears and some patients used multiple brands. EzriCare Artificial Tears, a preservative-free, over-the-counter product packaged in multidose bottles, was the brand most commonly reported. This was the only common artificial tears product identified across the four healthcare facility clusters.

Laboratory testing by CDC identified the presence of VIM-GES-CRPA in opened EzriCare bottles from multiple lots; these bottles were collected from patients with and without eye infections and from two states. VIM-GES-CRPA recovered from opened products match the outbreak strain. Testing of unopened bottles of EzriCare Artificial Tears is ongoing to assist in evaluating for whether contamination may have occurred during manufacturing.

Patients and health care providers should immediately stop the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears pending additional information and guidance from CDC and FDA.

The FDA encourages health care professionals and patients to report adverse events or quality problems with any medicine to FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program. Consumers may also report adverse reactions by contacting FDA’s Consumer Complaint Coordinators.