The Fairport, N.Y., firm has yet to heed a request from the federal Food and Drug Administration to broaden notification of problems with certain lots of its Avaira Toric contact lenses, which were recalled quietly in August because of unidentified "residue."

If we were to remove the burdensome Federal regulations that weigh down and smother this and other companies, we would free them to become as nimble and light-footed as they need to be to adequately respond to these situations. Blame the regulations, subby, not the company. The company wants to be open, it wants to recall harmful products, but the government prevents them from being able to do it in time because of the regulatory burden. Think about it, subby. Imagine you're sitting on a couch, and there's a fire. You'd just jump up and run out of the house, right?

Right. Of course you would. But here's the catch. I've dropped a 300 pound weight in your lap and chained you to it. Now jump up, subby. Now do it. Go on.

See? You can't, can you? And now you're burning alive, and now you're dead. All because I dropped a weight you couldn't lift into your lap. And don't lie to me about being able to lift 300 pounds. I know you can't. Not in time to escape that fire, anyway. Maybe you could get halfway to the door or something by dragging it behind you, but that fire is faster than that.

Well, it's the same thing here, subby. This company is trapped on a couch, too. And it can see the fire. It knows what it needs to do, it knows where that door is. But it's trapped there, smothered by the weight that the government has dropped in its lap. It can only watch, helpless, as the flames inch closer and closer to its feet and the thick smoke begins to clog the air. The company's burning, subby. It's burning alive.

That's the commie FDA at it again. Every American has the right to maim or kill themselves with a product because the company cannot be bothered with safety testing.

Torn Cornea is a misleading term. Corneal Abrasion is far more accurate. They are very common, but unusual from regular contact lens usage. They hurt like hell, but generally heal very quickly. Want to know what I put in patients' eyes when they have a painful corneal abrasion?

A contact lens. (acts like a band-aid, covers the exposed corneal nerves, helps the epithelium regrow much faster).

Irony, eh?

/Good on the FDA for recalling these if this is happening
//haven't seen a case in my patient population, but I'll be watching for it.

I am insanely glad I don't wear toric contact lenses anymore.

I don't know if I had corneal abrasion, but I had PRK laser eye surgery done...the one where they scraped the corneal layer off your eye, do the correction, then let it grow back naturally instead of Lasik which makes a flap. Better for people in sports and highly active lifestyles.

Anywho, they gave me a prescription for hydrocodone and told me to fill it the next day if I needed it because there might be some slight discomfort. Slight discomfort is a nice way of saying you will spend at least three days thinking someone poured acid into your eyes and praying for a sweet release from the pain. Of course I didn't fill the prescription until the next day, so I got to spend six hours trying not to cry because that made it ten times worse. On a scale of 1-10...that pain was an 11.

Almost 5 months later and I am pretty happy with how the surgery had turned out. I wish they wouldn't have sugarcoated it though and said "Fill this when you are done here or else you will regret it." I would still have done the surgery even knowing how painful it would be afterwards. It would have been nice to have the pain meds when I needed them though.

hailin: I don't know if I had corneal abrasion, but I had PRK laser eye surgery done...the one where they scraped the corneal layer off your eye, do the correction, then let it grow back naturally instead of Lasik which makes a flap. Better for people in sports and highly active lifestyles.

Yeah, you effectively had the entire cornea abraded. Hurts like hell. I'm surprised they didn't put you in bandage contact lenses for a few days while it healed.

Not the kind of contacts that I use. Whew.

Rude Turnip: To hell with laser surgery and contact lenses; all of that crap is purely for vanity purposes and I would NEVER endanger my vision for such a stupid reason.

There are plenty of situations where refractive surgery and contact lenses are very good options over spectacles. You're free to your opinion, but your situation is probably not universal. That said, contacts carry very real risks... for many people refractive surgery is actually probably safer in the long run. RGP lenses are safer than soft SCLs too, but their discomfort and hassles have relegated them to niche status for the most part.

Rude Turnip: To hell with laser surgery and contact lenses; all of that crap is purely for vanity purposes and I would NEVER endanger my vision for such a stupid reason.

Meh. That does contribute somewhat to why I wear contacts (my girlfriend certainly prefers it) but for me there are 2 bigger reasons:

1. I have a big head and it's hard to find glasses that fit comfortably. When I feel my temples I swear that it feels like there are indentations on either side of my skull.
2. Glasses get dirty quickly and I'm always cleaning them. And if they get scratched, forget it. It's annoying. No such issue with contacts. And I use disposables so I can just throw them away at the end of the day.

hailin: I don't know if I had corneal abrasion, but I had PRK laser eye surgery done

Oh hey, I so rarely get to meet other people who had that operation done. Mine was about 5 years ago. I agree about the pain, it was terrible. Very close to being as bad as the retinal detachment surgery I had a few years after. But I would think that by definition corneal abrasion refers to what happens in PRK. And alywa mentioned that he (she?) gives patients contact lenses to help with corneal abrasion, which is something you have to wear after PRK for at least a week if I remember right.

/I went from 400/20 to 30/20 and they're still holding strong so far, if you don't count all these farking floaters from this retina crap

Ugh... that made my eyes water.

I wish I could stop wearing glasses but I'm too afraid to fool with contacts or anything else. My vision is awful in one eye and the other is pretty much just for decoration. I don't want to risk the crappy vision I have.

if_i_really_have_to: /Blind without them
//-4.5 and -6.0

Lightweight!

/-6.5 and -7.5