After intense public pressure, Bausch & Lomb finally asked retailers to remove the ReNu contact lens solution from their shelves while an investigation into the product’s safety is completed. The question remains as to why the company has not pulled the product from the marketplace altogether. The potential damage as a result of using the product is great-blindness. A lawsuit seeking class action status has already been filed in Manhattan with probably many more to come. The company stopped shipments of MoistureLoc in the United States on Monday when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed it was scrutinizing 109 reports of Fusarium keratitis infections in patients in 17 states over the last 10 months.
Federal health officials have made no direct link between MoistureLoc and the infections, but a high incidence of the dozens of affected patients interviewed so far had used the cleaner.

One of the country’s leading manufacturers of eye contact solution has stopped shipments of its popular ReNu and MoistureLoc solutions after investigations have shown the products can cause a potentially dangerous eye infection. However, the company stopped short of pulling the products from store shelves. The fungal infection known as Fusarium can cause blindness. Symptoms can include blurry vision, pain or redness, increased sensitivity to light, and discharge from the eye. It is not transmitted from person to person.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating 109 reports of infection in patients in 17 states since June 2005. It has made no direct link between ReNu and the infections, but a high incidence of the affected people used the solution.

A federal judge has overturned a $100,000 verdict against an Orlando police officer who a jury found had violated the civil rights of a motorist he stopped and shot with a Taser in 2003. The crux of the judge’s argument hinged upon the fact that the cop stopped the driver for a non-arrestable offense.
However, the real story may be that Orlando police have deployed the Taser stun gun more than 1,200 times in the last three years. I’m not a cop but that seems like a lot of firing to me.

Yesterday was a busy day for police officers deploying the Taser stun gun. A 92 year old Pasco County man living in an assisted living facility was tasered by police after he assaulted another resident. On Clearwater beach, an unidentified man lost his life after being tasered by police. The police were responding to a complaint of “erratic behavior” before tasering the decedent.
While I don’t know the details in either case, I do know that when someone dies we all need to pause and ask if this death was necessary. Was there another way for police to handle these situations. Tasers are being used at an alarmingly high rate, sometimes leading to the death of the one tasered. Why aren’t tasers being investigated more aggressively? Are these stun guns really the best tool in all instances? Someone needs to start asking the questions.

A consultant for Wichita Kansas public schools is urging school officials to use prudence when deploying taser stun guns on students. It’s just as important to inform the parents of tased students as well as the local community of such use. In Hillsborough County Florida, letters are sent home to school parents when a taser is deployed, even by accident.

As the death toll from Taser use continues to mount across the country, Amnesty International has renewed its call to halt the use of the controversial stun gun. According to the watchdog group, 61 people died after being tasered in the last year. In spite of this, Taser use has increased since 2001. According to the GAO, police officers used the stun gun 70,000 times last year alone.

Florida police officers would be required to take four hours of training before using the Taser stun gun under HB 303 which was unanimously approved by the Florida House Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee. Presently, no training is required. The training requirement bill surfaced after many people have been seriously injured or killed after being hit by the Taser. Republican Dick Kravitz of Jacksonville is sponsoring the bill.

Armed with a $650,000 grant from the Department of Justice, two University of South Carolina research professors will undertake a study of the controversial Taser stun gun. The study will focus on the weapon’s safety as well as its ability to reduce injuries to police officers and suspects.

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A California judge has dismissed Taser International’s Motion to Dismiss in a lawsuit arising from a 2004 death of a Monterey CA man who had been tasered. Taser International, Inc., asked the district court to dismiss the claims of the Rosa family, contending that (1) Michael Rosa’s death was not reasonably foreseeable, (2) its product is not inherently dangerous, and (3) it had no duty to warn of the dangers of its product.
In denying Taser International’s Motion to Dismiss, Judge Fogel ruled that Taser has a duty to design and manufacture its products to avoid foreseeable dangers arising from their use, and to warn its customers and users of any foreseeable dangers that could arise when people such as Michael Rosa are shocked repeatedly and then subjected to aggressive restraint procedures. Taser International has been ordered to respond to plaintiffs’ complaint.

Every day I read a new Taser story. Each day the story seems to get more outrageous. Today, the story’s about a Harris County (TX) sheriff’s deputy using a taser on an elderly man in a wheelchair! The deputy has been placed on administrative leave for improper use of the stun gun weapon. The 73 year old man was shot twice in the groin area by the deputy. At the time of the incident, 12 deputies had stormed the man’s house looking for his grandson.