Check your medicine cabinets: A brand of eye drops sold nationally has been recalled due to the presence of fungus, which may cause vision damage.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Monday that Alcon Laboratories, based out of Texas, is voluntarily recalling a single lot of “Systane Lubricant Eye Drops Ultra SPF, Single Vials On-the-Go” as the products may be contaminated with fungus. The eye drops come in 25-count packages.
Alcon issued the recall after a consumer complained of a “foreign material” they found in a sealed vial of the eye drops. When the company investigated, they determined the material was fungal.
The recall follows a string of similar issues with tainted eye drops reported over the past two years. Dozens of products were recalled in 2023.
Fungal contamination in eye products are known to cause infections that can threaten a person’s ability to see. In rarer cases, these infections can become life-threatening for immunocompromised people.
In this case, the producer of the eye drops has yet to receive any reports of infection related to the recalled product.