WARNING ON Bausch and Lomb!!!!!!!

[kitkat953]

I'm posting this here cause there have been several offers from B&L in the FREEBIES section.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/04/11/eye.fungus.ap/index.html

Bausch & Lomb said it would temporarily suspend shipments of ReNu with MoistureLoc made at its Greenville, South Carolina, plant

This was the SAMPLE that they were offering.

[kitkat953]

UPDATE:

Bausch & Lomb: ReNu appears safe
Delay announced in 10-K filing; no reason given
By Val Brickates Kennedy, arketWatch
Last Update: 12:08 PM ET Apr 12, 2006


BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Bausch & Lomb Inc. executives are at a loss to explain why some users of its ReNu contact-lens solution have reportedly developed serious eye infections, saying Wednesday that all tests run so far have shown the product safe and effective.

In a conference call held with analysts, Bausch & Lomb's management defended ReNu with MoistureLoc, the popular eye-care product used to clean, disinfect and store contact lenses.
"Every additional test indicates the formulation is as safe and effective as anything else on the market," said Ronald Zarrella, chief executive of the Rochester, N.Y.-based company.
Bausch & Lomb rattled both investors and consumers late Monday, when it announced it was suspending U.S. shipments of ReNu with MoistureLoc due to reports that some users had developed a rare but serious eye infection called fungal keratitis.
The Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration are investigating 109 reports of fungal keratitis around the nation, but they've yet to conclude that the ReNu product is a cause. It was also unclear how many of the reported cases actually involved ReNu, according to the agencies.
While allowing that ReNu could be eventually be linked to the infections, Zarrella also emphasized that all testing to date has shown ReNu with MoistureLoc was safe and effective in combatting microbes that can trigger fungal keratitis.
Bausch & Lomb also has been able to test bottles of ReNu solution retrieved from infected users but found nothing out of the ordinary, he said.
"As far as theories, there's a lot of them, and we've run a lot of them to ground and come up with nothing," said Zarrella.
Fungal keratitis is a painful inflammation of the cornea that can, in some cases, lead to blindness. The infection, caused by a fungus found in the environment, can appear as a result of eye injury, improper use of contact lenses or contaminated contact-lens products.
Zarrella said that FDA officials were currently inspecting the company's Greenville, S.C., plant, where it produces all ReNu with MoistureLoc products for the U.S. market.
Zarrella also said that the company had no insight into how long the FDA and CDC investigations will take and whether it will eventually have to recall all of ReNu with MoistureLoc products from the U.S. market. At this point, Bausch intends only to stop shipping new product to retailers, not to reclaim bottles already on store shelves.
However, retail heavyweights Wal-Mart Stores (WMT : Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
said earlier Wednesday that they were removing the product from their shelves, pending the outcome of the regulatory investigation.
According to the company, ReNu with MoistureLoc generated U.S. sales of about $45 million in 2005.
Analysts on the call voiced concern that the product alert could end up eroding sales of Bausch & Lomb's other eye-care products, which enjoy great popularity with consumers.
Zarrella responded that Bausch & Lomb intends to immediately embark on a new marketing campaign to promote the integrity of its products, adding: "We're going to convince consumers that our products are safe and effective."

[Brian]

What a sad day. I had a bunch of Bausch and Lomb stock. Had to sell it all to cut losses today...

[Thesifer]

What a sad day. I had a bunch of Bausch and Lomb stock. Had to sell it all to cut losses today...

Humm Why wouldn't you hold onto it for it to come back up? Since it will.. unless it's a day trade type of deal..

[Brian]

It's a little bit of daytrade and just that it might take too long for B&L to come back, since ReNu is getting taken off shelves from just about everywhere. Not trying to give out stock advice or anything now...

[Thesifer]

Uhmm they just announced in the second article and to all investors that they aren't going to remove it from shelves since it was determined that it is most likely NOT the cause.