BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Bausch & Lomb Inc. executives are at a loss to explain why some users of its ReNu contact-lens solution have reportedly developed serious eye infections, saying Wednesday that all tests run so far have shown the product is safe and effective.
46.96, +1.35, +3.0%) resumed their move lower, dropping 7% to close at $45.61.
In a conference call held with analysts, Bausch & Lomb's management defended ReNu with MoistureLoc, a popular eye-care product used to clean, disinfect and store contact lenses.
"Every additional test indicates the formulation is as safe and effective as anything else on the market," said Ronald Zarrella, chief executive of the Rochester, N.Y.-based company.
Bausch & Lomb rattled both investors and consumers late Monday, when it announced it was suspending U.S. shipments of ReNu with MoistureLoc due to reports that some users had developed a rare but serious eye infection called fungal keratitis.
The Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration are investigating 109 reports of fungal keratitis around the nation, but they've yet to conclude that the ReNu product is a cause. It was also unclear how many of the reported cases actually involved ReNu, according to the agencies.
While allowing that ReNu could be eventually be linked to the infections, Zarrella also emphasized that all testing to date has shown ReNu with MoistureLoc was safe and effective in combating microbes that can trigger fungal keratitis.
Bausch & Lomb also has been able to test bottles of ReNu solution retrieved from infected users, but found nothing out of the ordinary, he said.
"As far as theories, there's a lot of them, and we've run a lot of them to ground and come up with nothing," said Zarrella.
Fungal keratitis is a painful inflammation of the cornea that can, in some cases, lead to blindness. The infection, caused by a fungus found in the environment, can appear as a result of eye injury, improper use of contact lenses or contaminated contact-lens products.
Zarrella said that FDA officials were currently inspecting the company's Greenville, S.C., plant, where it produces all ReNu with MoistureLoc products for the U.S. market.
Zarrella also said that the company had no insight into how long the FDA and CDC investigations will take and whether it will eventually have to recall all of ReNu with MoistureLoc products from the U.S. market. At this point, Bausch intends only to stop shipping new product to retailers, not to reclaim bottles already on store shelves.
However, retail heavyweights Wal-Mart Stores (WMT :
43.27, +0.26, +0.6%) said earlier Wednesday that they were removing the product from their shelves, pending the outcome of the regulatory investigation.
According to the company, ReNu with MoistureLoc generated U.S. sales of about $45 million in 2005.
Analysts on the call voiced concern that the product alert could end up eroding sales of Bausch & Lomb's other eye-care products, which enjoy great popularity with consumers.
Zarrella responded that Bausch & Lomb intends to immediately embark on a new marketing campaign to promote the integrity of its products, adding: "We're going to convince consumers that our products are safe and effective."
The executive also announced that it was "unlikely" that the company will file its 2005 year-end financial report, or 10-K, with the Securities and Exchange Commission by April 30. Zarrella repeatedly declined to comment during the call as to why the company wouldn't meet that deadline.
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and insist product(s) safe...see link...sm - Bausch and Lomb not pulling ReNu...
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Other related messages found in our database Now we have to insist patients
being treated are actually examined before treatment is rendered?
Wasn't it bad enough medicine when ER docs would proclaim a diagnosis before exam, only to have to backpedal after taking a look?? I guess if they are going to do things in that order, doing physical exams is going to result in their looking stuupid, so their solution is not to do that part.
Big grrrr.
Some MTs insist that they are good ...
(or even excellent) when in fact they are not. I know of one in particular who insists she is a very good MT and she does not even known which to use -- "there" or "their" or "their." Not to mention she put "tetanus" in an ENT exam when it was supposed to be "tinnitus."
Also why you should insist on having a contract.
Execute and sign a contract that spells out all of the particulars. This will save a lot of grief in the future. If the company doesn't want to use a contract, move on. If a company cuts corners there, where else might they be cutting corners?
As stated above, it's up to the MT to look out for their own best interest, not the employer.
Just BTW, our work would be eliminated practically overnight if the federal government were to refuse to pay Medicare compensation dollars for it. Something that could be done.
Besides, let's face it, many people are still making a decent income because they've upgraded their skills to keep up with technologic change. Should hospitals be paying some people to spend at least half again as long to type reports as others can do them because they don't want to, or can't, add to their skills? Is that really a sensible allocation of our healthcare dollars?
Might also be your thyroid or Lyme disease. Insist on blood work! nm
s
try this product...sm
I've used a product called OdoBan....I buy it at Sams but it's available at the supermarkets too. It can be used for a whole lot of odor-causing problems. I use it for pet messes, and no more smells. Maybe this would help. Good luck...I couldn't stand to smell that all day.
My niece is a product of IVF (sm)
I remember only too well my sister-in-law's tears as she and my brother-in-law (husband's brother) struggled to have their first child. Finally, they tried IVF and had their first daughter, my niece and my Godchild. She just made her First Communion a couple of weeks ago. They had two more girls after her, both through IVF. (They are 7, 5, and 3). I know those 3 little girls are so adored. Mom and dad are going to be paying that debt down for quite a while, but I know that they, and I'm sure everyone who has gone through the same, will say that it was worth it.
I would try a product called Out
It is available in both the pet care and baby care sections of Wal-Mart. I use it for pet accidents (puppy not trained yet) by pouring it directly on the spot after soaking up the spot first, allow to soak a few minutes and then blot it up -- works great that way, but I also now add it in when using my Hoover steamcleaner, and gives a fresh scent to the whole room.
Do you have a product number on this? Some way to
p
Yes. This is an excellent product.
xx
Is there product that can get a stain off a
XX
Look for a product in the store that...sm
the scout ants will carry back to their nest(?) and eradicate the entire colony. What I used was a product that was a small, enclosed tin thing with a hole in top. It held a poisonous gel. I think there were 3 in a box. Sorry, can't remember the name. Anyway, I never saw ants in the house since using these.
What's your favorite cleaning product....sm
for say the bathrooms and kitchen? I usually use whatever is on sale and that I have a coupon for as they all seem to work about the same to me - and if I see one more advertisement that claims that something will clean without your having to scrub and not see it come true I'm going to have a hissy fit!
Armstrong makes a product
If I remember right from my linoleum days (have tile now), Armstrong makes a product that will strip the floor completely and does a great job at getting rid of any of the imbedded dirt and such so it might work on the yellow stains. Then you apply the second part which reapplies the shine to the floor. I had used it to remove embedded dirt on mine and it made it look brand newDeb Soule has an amazing product - sm
called Flea-B-Gone. She is an herbalist up in Maine, and having had a beagle (and we all know how beagles can be), I back this product up 1000%.
Here is her website
http://www.avenabotanicals.com/
Also, use a quarter cup of lemon juice in the bath water.
Another thing to keep in mind - if you purchase a dog shampoo from a store, read the bottle. If it says to "wear gloves," DO NOT BUY IT. Think about this ... if YOU HAVE TO WEAR gloves to apply this to your animal's skin, do you really think it's safe??? Hmmmmm
Oust is a great product!
nm
No need to worry about buying a product that
With Instant Text, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try it out risk-free for one full month.
For more information regarding our return policy, please see the link below.
What is the best product for removal upper lip hair? I have tried Sally Hansen but not much luck. I have not tried bleaching yet because I really would prefer to have it gone! Before I spend more money, can you tell me what works for you? Thanks much.
Instant Text is an inferior product
The features they promote are confusing, aren't available if you are doing on-the-fly medical transcription, contradict each other and then when you only use it for a PRD type program, you have overpaid for it, and could have used anything else. Remember the joke when PCs first came out: "A doctor can learn to use a Macintosh in the time it takes them to get frustrated on an IBM" -- well substitute ShortHand for Macintosh and InstantText for IBM. Could we get some input from Smartype users? If Stedmans is a great resource for books, how is their speedtyping program?
i dont blame you at all. If you buy a product you should be able to use it till at least the foot p
I wonder if you can copy it from one computer and burn it on a disk so you can have a backup. I will try that and see.
Everyone markets their product that way. Like loss-leaders at supermarket.
They get people into their stores by give-away prices on one item and hope you continue shopping at their store. It is a marketing ploy everyone uses.
As far as the GE microwave Walmart ploy, if the buyer doesn't research the market to see if they can get the same GE microwave cheaper, that would be the buyer's problem not Walmart. Stupid is as stupid does and to impulse buy something like a microwave is just plain stupid and/or lazy. Think this through. Been to a sale lately at say Kohls and then saw a full-price outfit you like better than the sale outfit. What do you do? Think Kohls is horrible for doing this? Or smart marketing?
I think anti-Walmart propaganda has too far and people get caught up in it without thinking every other successful retailer uses the same marketing strategy.
I would never voluntarily give them "my" normals, my work product. SM
The nerve of these people. I heard a doc that I transcribe for call it "the product of conception."
x
I simply chose the wrong link. See inside for the correct link.
See link
It never was safe. nm
x
To be safe, 30,000-40,000 (NM)
nm
Speaking of rip-offs, anyone have any advise on how to get back money paid for a product you never
received? I needed a Dictaphone C-phone for my job (was using a loaner) and put a note on the equipment board pertaining to this back in May. A woman contacted me stating she had one for $100 (I only needed the phone, power supply and phone cord). She said she was going away for 3 weeks and to Western Union the money to her that night and she'd send it out the next day. I did not like the high pressure and was still shopping around anyway so I told her I'd wait the 3 weeks and contact her then. About a week later she emailed me stating she cut her trip short but was going away again that Friday (It was Tuesday), I had by this time decided to buy her phone. I mailed out that day via Priority mail a M.O. for $100. She was very anxious for the money, and thought I'd sent it Express Mail, which I of course informed her I did not. She stated that it should be there by Friday and if she did not see her mail that day that she'd have her mom check the mail and then mail the C-phone to me. After 2 weeks I emailed her as I had no phone as yet, no response. A week later still no phone, emailed again, no response. Then I called her (looked it up) and she claimed her email was "broken" and she had not received my emails but would email me back as she was on her way out the door to a baseball game. I asked her how can she email me back if it was broken??? So then she backpedaled and said she'd call me.... I held my breath at that point. So the next day by some miracle I get an email from her stating her mother had mailed it regular mail, no way to track it, etc. So supposedly it is lost. I emailed her back which it appeared she did not get as she did not respond to my questions but she did email me again saying she'd return my money.....again I am holding my breath. That was 8 days ago. She is in OK, I am in VA. If she sent me a refund promptly it would have been here by now. Now when I call her, she does not pick up, and no answering machine either. I am planning now to mail her a copy of her email and my response to getting my money back. I am assuming at this point that I was taken for a sucker and was obviously too trusting. Right now I don't have $100 to burn (who does?) with my drives to the hospital (60 miles round trip) for my daughter's chemo, doctor visits, etc, on top of only making about 1/2 what I used to make due to the changes in my life right now. In the meantime I got kicked off the account for which I needed the C-phone for (add insult to injury here) due to problems at the company I was working for, so that does not sweeten my disposition any. So does anyone have any idea how I can squeeze her and get my money back? Contact the police there for fraud? Small claims court in OK? I am a persistent pain in the butt and will keep at her until I get my money back, if it is fraud then she picked the wrong person to screw with, if it is on the up and up then it is unfortunate but she should have insured it to cover her own (and mine) butt, and sent in with a delivery confirmation too....but you know what they say about hindsight. Any ideas???5HTP is a natural product that helps the body to produce Seratonin sm
in a natural way. The chemical SSRIs do it differently. But 5HTP is the closest thing to a natural antidepressant agent you can find.
You can also download (free) a product called Cool Timer from CNet.
You can set it to act like a stopwatch or to countdown time. I use it all the time and it has helped me immensely. I just have it open all the time on my toolbar. http://www.download.com/Cool-Timer/3000-2350_4-10062255.html
I think it's safe. We do it all the time. You
sit right there with them and watch everything they do as you talk to them. Once you terminate the connection, they can't get back in without your help and permission the next time.
Better safe than sorry - money aside - LM
Way, way back when I was a student in college & lived in a dormitory, I started with right-sided pain walking back from classes one day. Next morning I was doubled over in pain & running a fever. Roommate called our floor "House Mother" to get me some help & for some unknown reason she thought I was "faking" it when I said I couldn't go to my classes - got me no help & told me to go to my classes. Thank God for my roommate "who knew me" & knew I had never missed any of my classes & stood up to our "House Mother". My roommate just happened to have an older brother (a coach at the local high school) She called him - he came to the dorm, saw the shape I was in & carried me out to his car & took me to the campus hospital. After all their examinations - they shipped me to the city hospital & thankfully the doctor there felt it was imperative I have surgery & did so with phone permission from my parents - thinking I "did" have a ruptured appendix. Come to find out, I had a ruptured ovarian cyst, was hemorrhaging internally, & was a mess. I was 18 - they took part of my ovary & went ahead & took out my appendix while they were in there.
Simply put -if I had had pain for 3 days which was not improving - regardless of the price, I'd have it checked out. I'd rather pay $100 to find out nothing was wrong & have my peace of mind than suffer the possible consequences of ignoring it. You just never know!
If I knew I had done nothing strenuous or out of the ordinary for me to cause this pain, i.e., all of sudden from sedentary to working out 24/7, I'd check it out- immediately !!
I'd rather be scared & safe than sorry!
I have surge protectors & an APC battery back-up system; however, I have those so I will have an alarm & time to close my applications safely without loosing info during a storm (Hopefully). That being said -"I will not work during a thunderstorm/bad lightening." When my APC beeps - I backup & close what I've been working on, close all applications, log off & unplug everything!
NO - it's not safe to work during a thunderstorm/bad lightning!! Your time and/or comittment at work will have to play seconds to saving your life - & I'm not kidding that this is a possibility. Anything plugged into an electrical socket, including a phone, has the potential of being hit with lightning. I just won't risk playing with Mother Nature !! I've read of too many who have and have lost !!
OMG...these are hilarious...I think it's safe to say we all have So no real safe way to put...
a "bug" in their ear that you're available if they want you huh? Melatonin can be useful and safe for some ... BUT
there can be side effects. I used it several years ago to help with sleep problems and it did help, and I thought I'd finally licked the problem. Unfortunately, I began to suffer from depression, which I had never experienced before. Since the Melatonin was the only change I had made before the depression, I stopped it, and the depression subsided. I later learned that depression can be a side effect of using melatonin for some people. I hope this is not the case for you and that you are able to continue to enjoy the sleep benefits of melatonin. However, if you find yourself becoming depressed, consider that the melatonin might be the cause.
Is Red Bull safe? sm
Does anyone know exactly how it works chemically? Is it different than caffeine?
I am glad you are safe
You said: "I know the definition of an addict, and I, in no way, resemble or exhibit an addicts behavior."
I question whether you do know the definition of addictive behavior. Going away by yourself in a hotel room without telling anyone where you are in order to withdraw from opiates is not what most people would do if they do not have something to hide. Being a pain patient does not exclude one from becoming addicted.
The case I referred to was settled perhaps 2 years ago. In that case, the grandmother already had custody (not adopted) of the older 2 siblings by filing in court herself. In the case of the youngest child, he was premature, in a different county, and as the bio already had a history of not being able to take care of her children, the child was taken to the foster home the day he was released from the hospital. This grandmother is a kindergarten teacher and grandfather has classification clearance in the Air Force. Even though the grandmother had the older 2, they did not give her the opportunity to have the 3rd child. She hired lawyers and finally did everything herself by terminating parental rights (bios don't like having to pay child support to the grandparents!) and then was able to adopt the 3rd child.
The act gives the state 24 months (period) to close a case on children in state care. If the bio is not agreeable to giving custody to relatives, the case can remain open and the bio has the opportunity to go to drug rehabilitation, parenting classes, get a stable job and prove they can independently provide for themselves BUT while those children are in foster care, the clock is ticking. Some bios don't want to do all those things or cannot in that time frame. If the state realizes the bios are going to make the time frame, and no relatives are involved, then yes, the child can be adopted by the foster care. The case workers are overworked and under a lot of pressure to get cases closed so the state gets a good Federal score and gets bonus money...so yes, there are cases when it is easier to adopt the child to a foster parent than to relatives...then relatives have a fight they should not have to be fighting.
I knew when my GD was born that someday this was going to happen and I put myself in a position to be available and willing to take her. I listen to her night terrors. She asks why mommy doesn't call - I tell her mommy has to take a test (drugs) and then mommy can visit again. It can be maddening because now I have to supervise the bios visiting the child. No overnight visits. Some states require background checks on other people who may care for the child. Can't place her on my insurance as she is not adopted. I got state benefits and part of that means I have to take my own daughter to court to get child support (bio dud has his own court case). Some states make relatives become foster parents to keep their own grandchildren. I'm single so now I work 2 jobs. The state closed my case as it became a private petition. But whatever I go through, what she gives me is priceless.
How bad is that?! I've eaten leftover frosting after the container was opened so it "wouldn't go to waste," but I still have the cake mix to make cupcakes and am too much of a tightwad deep down to waste it like that...and I'm just not in the mood to bake nuthin' today.
So I ate a couple of teaspoons of straight-up honey and called it good. Grocery run...gotta make one!
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