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Like every October, health authorities and medical organizations want to remind you that the decorative, over-the-counter lenses are not only illegal, they're also terrible for your eyes. And they're not telling tall tales.
[...]
Just on Tuesday, USA Today reported the case of a Cleveland woman who got decorative lenses stuck to her eyeballs. The lenses were supposed to turn her brown eyes blue but instead made them swollen and red. She had to have them removed in an emergency room.
[...]
Patient 12, on the other hand, was not so lucky. After buying cat-eye lenses at a flea market, the 26-year-old man developed a severe, painful infection called Acanthamoeba keratitis. The infection is caused by a free-living amoeba running rampant in the cornea, which can be blinding—as it was in this case. He ended up needing a corneal transplant, and three months afterwards his vision was still 20/200, which is considered legally blind.
[...]
If you really want to change the look of your eye, the FDA emphasizes that it's very important to buy FDA-approved decorative lenses through your eye doctor or another reputable vendor—with your prescription.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/heres-why-you-should-never-use-decorative-contact-lenses-in-graphic-pictures/
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/contact-lenses/list-contact-lenses
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @02:30PM (15 children)
I had to stop wearing contacts because I slept with them in too much. Putting stuff in your eye is an inherently dangerous activity. So Idon't see what FDA approved has to do with anything. I've seen people lose a FDA approved contact onto the bathroom floor then rinse it off and put it in their eye. They were fine, I doubt these could be in worse condition than that.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Freeman on Thursday October 31 2019, @02:39PM (5 children)
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/heres-why-you-should-never-use-decorative-contact-lenses-in-graphic-pictures/ [arstechnica.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:18PM (4 children)
So a dumbass who didn't clean her lenses or the carrying case and probably never refreshed her cleaning solution. The source of the lenses wasn't the problem there. @GP Shoddily made lenses or improper handling by the manufacturer or distributor can be just as dangerous, so due caution when purchasing is important too, which is why the FDA exists.
(Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:21PM (3 children)
The FDA reduces your level of caution, it has the opposite effect.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:47PM (2 children)
Sure, because otherwise you'd be all about doing your own quality control testing like exposing them to bacteria and making sure that rinsing clears them off fully, placing them in animal eyes to be sure that they don't contain irritants, that the manufacturer remains available for any product questions/liability filings, etc.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @05:59PM (1 child)
Somebody would, and you would see the certifications/reviews. It is a non-problem.
(Score: 3, Touché) by MostCynical on Thursday October 31 2019, @10:19PM
Because private certification worked so well with automobiles...
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:17PM (4 children)
However, consumer protection laws are there for a reason, and there's never an excuse for flouting them so. Well, either that or we could just drop that inconvenient law that's getting in the way of the free market, that's always an option.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:29PM
Just read the Amazon reviews, it is just as good as the FDA.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:48PM (2 children)
Yeah, too many people have good enough vision right now, what we need is to allow all players in and let the market handle the product liability issues, you betcha.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Thursday October 31 2019, @06:05PM (1 child)
But there's a legitimate public burden of having a bunch of extra blind people running around, bumping into things. How do you incorporate that into the market?
Your sarcasm is palpable, but I think it's worth pointing out the shortcomings of the deregulation approach.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @06:33PM
I bought a shelving unit from amazon and it cut my finger, other reviews mentioned the same problem. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people who got cut and caused a public burden, one got infected and had to go to the hospital. That is why the FDA should regulate shelving units too.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by EvilSS on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:27PM (3 children)
It can have a lot to do with it. Certifying the manufacturing facility to make sure the lenses you get are not already harboring microbes for one. Another is the materials, making sure they safe and don't encourage bacterial colonization or make it difficult to clean the lenses properly (excessively porous, for example).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:34PM (2 children)
You should always rinse them off with saline anyway.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:43PM (1 child)
Which won't do anything if their porosity means the bacteria can remain attached to them despite the rinsing.
This sig for rent.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @06:03PM
And even soaking them in acid won't do anything if they are made out of formaldehyde! Thank god for the FDA or people would be putting random objects in their eyes. Oh wait, those same people are doing that anyway. The FDA does nothing.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:16PM (3 children)
Shocking news! You should stick cheap gadgets bought at the flea market in or on delicate, precious and irreplaceable body parts. News at 11.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:38PM (1 child)
Did you hear about the guy who got drunk and put his dick in a tube hooked up to a helium tank? When the air pumped in it got stuck in the tube then he panicked and knocked the tank over while trying to turn it off...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 01 2019, @02:28AM
When he took a piss it sounded like Alvin & The Chipmunks?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_%26_The_Chipmunks [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by TrentDavey on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:54PM
"film" at 11.
In the old days it took a while to get "moving pictures" about the news item so the news event was reported in audio only while the news team rounded up video. Nowadays you would have to work at it to only have audio without an accompanying video.
Yeah. I'm retired now so I have lots of time on my hands.
Sorry.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @04:12PM
It made me think there was a particular reason not to wear them while having your picture taken. "- with graphic pictures" would more clearly convey that the article contains pictures.