On Tuesday, the FDA published its Warning Letter to Amazon about 7 eye drops, and Amazon promptly took them down.
But… what about the rest? Yesterday, it took us less than 2 hours to find more than 60 eye drops on Amazon that are not registered with the FDA at all, many of which claim to treat conditions ranging from dry eye to glaucoma to macular degeneration. Some of these were subject to distributor warning letters in September. Some contain ingredients that the FDA has specifically warned against repeatedly. Some have no identifiable company, brand, origins or ingredient lists. Some are potential “frankenstein” eye drops (unpreserved in conventional bottles).
Here’s a snapshot of red-flagged eye drops you can find on Amazon today:
DEF reported dozens of eyedrops to Amazon last spring and summer. Since then, a few were removed, most stayed, and many new ones have appeared.
If Amazon wants to be a trusted supplier of OTC and Rx medications, they need to prove they can be trusted to proactively keep out flagrant violators of FDA safety-related rules for OTC eye drops.
Healthcare providers, please caution your patients about purchasing only from trusted sellers. We have resources on our site for shopping more safely on Amazon.
