Bausch & Lomb Will Not Recall Suspect Lens Solution

Bausch & Lomb said it doesn't plan to recall a contact lens cleaner linked to eye infections and defended the product's safety as retailers across the nation pulled the solution from their shelves.

The chief executive officer Ron Zarrella said yesterday that ReNu with MoistureLoc kills the fungus that causes the infection, and he may initiate a marketing campaign to rebuild the product.

Drugstores and supermarkets are pulling the cleanser off their shelves, and the stock fell for a 15th straight day.

Mr. Zarrella said there may be "ripple effects" on the sales of other Bausch & Lomb lens cleaners, the Rochester, N.Y.-based contact lens maker's most profitable business, as consumers steer clear of the entire ReNu line. nalysts said the company has limited time to develop a strategy for allaying patient fears related to an infection that can cause blindness.

"There is a danger that there is permanent damage to the brand," a Piper Jaffray & Company analyst, Steven Hamill, said yesterday. "They have, quite frankly, only days to come up with evidence that their product is not to blame, or take more aggressive action."

On a conference call with analysts today, Mr. Zarrella declared ReNu with MoistureLoc is "as safe and effective as anything on the market." Bausch & Lomb stopped shipping the product April 10 after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating 109 reports of the eye infection. "There's no indication there is a formula problem here," Mr. Zarrella said.