“No one should be subjected to this unreasonable risk of harm just by getting products they need on a daily basis,” said Ryan Yaffa, who is among the attorneys who represent the plaintiff.
March 08, 2023
What You Need to Know
- Attorneys at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen represent the plaintiff, Clara Oliva.
- Oliva blamed an artificial tear drop product for the surgical removal of her right eye, and subsequent blindness.
- Oliva filed the 42-count lawsuit in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Attorneys filed a lawsuit in Florida state court against multiple defendants based in New Jersey, New York and Florida over an allegedly defective artificial tear product that resulted in a woman having doctors remove one of her eyes.
Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen partners Natasha S. Cortes, Alex Arteaga-Gomez, and associate Ryan Yaffa in Coral Gables represent the plaintiff, Clara Oliva.
Oliva sued the defendants, including Global Pharma Healthcare Private Ltd., EzriCare LLC in New Jersey, Aru Pharma Inc in New York, and Leon Medical Centers LLC and HealthSpring of Florida Inc., both based in the Sunshine State.
“This lawsuit is about safety and protecting everyone,” Yaffa said. “It’s a standard over-the-counter product that a huge portion of the general population is using. No one should be subjected to this unreasonable risk of harm just by getting products they need on a daily basis.”
The defendants did not have counsel listed in the Florida state court docket, and they did not immediately respond to a request for comment through the contact information listed on their websites.
Now, the 42-count lawsuit will go before the Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Carlos Guzman, with allegations ranging from strict liability for a manufacturing defect to implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated adverse events implicating various over-the-counter eye drops, prompting EzriCare to issue a statement in January over the contamination of its artificial tears product, according to the 59-page complaint.
The complaint alleged that the next month, the CDC announced a multi-state outbreak of a “rare strain of extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.” Immediately afterward, EzriCare issued a statement acknowledging that it stopped the distribution of the product “to the greatest extent possible,” and that it is cooperating with the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Oliva alleged in the complaint that following FDA pressure, Global Pharma voluntarily recalled the artificial tears product while acknowledging dozens of reported adverse events and admitting that the product could cause blindness. However, the FDA noted failures in its response, the complaint said.
Oliva has a history of dry eyes related to her prescribed contact lenses, which she has been using for about 30 years, the complaint said. She obtained her eye drops from Leon Medical through her HealthSpring insurance plan, according to the complaint. Starting in May, Leon Medical provided her with EzriCare Artificial Tears.
And soon after, Leon Medical doctors prescribed her antimicrobial and antibiotic treatment—some of which Pseudomonas aeruginosa is resistant to—in order to treat her noticeably red, swollen, and abnormally watery right eye, the complaint claimed.
But the symptoms worsened, leading her to an admittance at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute’s emergency room in August, the complaint said.
By the end of the month, Oliva had turned to Bascom Palmer over a dozen times as the modifications to her medications continued to fail, per the complaint. Ultimately, the hospital surgically removed her right eye and replaced it with a plastic implant.
And, the attorneys wrote, “Given her decreased visual acuity of 20/200 in her remaining left eye, Mrs. Oliva is now legally blind.”
