What to Know About the Recent Eyedrops Recalls

Two brands of eyedrops were pulled from shelves in January and February after they were linked to a drug-resistant bacteria strain that has been found to have caused at least four deaths and serious health issues in several others. Weeks later, two other types of eyedrops were recalled because they posed a different kind of contamination risk.

In late October, another 26 eye-care products were pulled from shelves after the Food and Drug Administration found unsanitary conditions at a manufacturing plant. In November, Amazon said it was removing seven types of eyedrops from its website after receiving a warning letter from the F.D.A., which said the products were not approved for sale in the United States.

This flurry of recalls and the recent warning may have you second-guessing your trusted source of dry-eye relief, but there are significant differences among the recalls and plenty of steps you can take to stay safe.

“Millions and millions of people, including me, use eyedrops every single day,” said Dr. Christopher Starr, a clinical spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. “And assuming that the drops that we have at home are not on any recall list, are from reputable companies that are producing eyedrops at the highest level of quality and with the oversight of the F.D.A. and other companies that monitor manufacturing, then it is 100 percent perfectly safe to continue using those drops.”

Here’s what to know about these recalls.

What eyedrops have been recalled?

The F.D.A. said on Oct. 27 that people should not use 26 eye-care products including eyedrops and gels from CVS Health, Leader (Cardinal Health), Rugby (Cardinal Health), Rite Aid, Target up&up and Velocity Pharma. A week later, it added two more products to the list.

CVS, Rite Aid and Target were removing the products from their shelves, the F.D.A. said, and recalls were issued by the pharmaceutical companies that sold the Leader, Velocity Pharma and Rugby products.