Walmart class action claims Ezricare artificial tears contaminated with bacteria

Walmart Ezricare class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Joseph Lopez filed a class action lawsuit against Ezricare LLC and Walmart Inc.
• Why: The Walmart class action alleges that Ezricare artificial tears eye drops are contaminated with a drug-resistant bacteria, potentially posing a significant health risk to consumers.
• Where: The Ezricare bacteria class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.

Ezricare artificial tears products may be contaminated with a rare, drug-resistant bacteria potentially posing a significant health risk to consumers, according to a recent Walmart class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Joseph Lopez claims that Ezricare artificial tears, sold by Walmart, are contaminated with “a rare, extensively drug-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.” Pseudomonas aeruginosa can reportedly cause severe eye, lung, skin and other infections in humans.

The Ezricare bacteria outbreak allegedly began in May 2022 and has been linked to cases in at least a dozen states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Fifty-five individuals have reportedly been infected by Ezricare bacteria. Three have reportedly experienced permanent vision loss, and others have required extensive treatment of their infections. One person died due to a systemic infection, according to the Walmart Ezricare class action lawsuit.

Walmart class action: CDC investigation leads to Ezricare artificial tears recall

On Jan. 24, 2023, Ezricare issued a statement notifying consumers that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was investigating adverse events potentially related to Ezricare artificial tears eye drops. The eye drops were recalled shortly after this announcement, Lopez says.

The Walmart class action claims the Ezricare bacteria contamination is due to the failure of Ezricare and Walmart to conduct appropriate microbial testing and lack of proper controls related to tamper-evident packaging.

Lopez says he purchased Ezricare artificial tears from a Walmart Supercenter in July 2022 under the assumption that the product was unadulterated, safe and effective. He claims he would not have purchased the product, or he would not have paid as much for it, had he known about the potential Ezricare bacteria contamination.

He filed the Walmart class action lawsuit on behalf of a proposed nationwide class and New York subclass of consumers who purchased allegedly contaminated Ezricare artificial tears products.

An Amazon class action lawsuit filed last summer alleges a woman had to have an eye removed after using contaminated Ezricare artificial tears she purchased from Amazon.com.

Have you used Ezricare artificial tears? Tell us what you think of the Walmart class action lawsuit in the comments.

Lopez is represented by Charles D. Moore and Michael R. Reese of Reese LLP and Kevin Laukaitis of Laukaitis Law LLC.

The Ezricare class action lawsuit is Joseph Lopez v. Ezricare LLC, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-02016, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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