The recall was just announced on two products sold at major retailers in four English-speaking countries for patients with a common eye condition.
More Than 3.2 Million Over-the-Counter Eye Care Products Have Been Recalled by a Major Brand
Updated on Sep. 28, 2024
Your eye is probably one of the last places you’d want to put a contaminated medication, and sufferers of a condition that affects an estimated 20 million Americans may benefit from a heads-up on a recall that’s broken this week.
The major pharmaceutical company Allergan, owned by AbbVie, has issued a recall of two eye ointments under the Refresh brand that are targeted to treat dry eye. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published reports that Refresh P.M. and Refresh Lacri-Lube, which are both indicated for bedtime use, were recalled for what the FDA calls “Lack of Assurance of Sterility: The impacted lots may contain a breach in the tube seal.”
The FDA reports both products were distributed throughout the USA and to Australia, Canada and Great Britain.
The lot numbers (left) and expiration dates (right, denoted Exp.) on the recalled Refresh products are as follows:
Refresh P.M., 0.12-ounce tubes (2,473,563 total units, with UPC code 300230667043):
Lot: 387392, 387393, 387394, Exp. Feb 2025
387395, 388729, 388730, 388731, 388732, 390391, 390404, Exp. Apr 2025
391688, 391734, Exp. Oct 2025
392616, 392620, Exp. Dec 2025
392987, 393560, Exp. Jan 2026
394816, 394821, Exp. Nov 2025
394927, 394929, Exp. Feb 2026
395713, 395992, 396815, Exp. Mar 2026
396816, 397248, 397315, Exp. Apr 2026
397316, 397774, 397775, 397776, 398436, 398437, Exp. May 2026
398621, 398643, 398739, 398944, 399001, 399255, 399270, 399271, Exp. Jun 2026
399798, 399806, 400003, Exp. Jul 2026
408668, 408723, 408737, 408853, 408895, Exp. Apr 2027
409121, 409142, Exp. May 2027
409261, Exp. Apr 2027
T4534, T4535, T4591, T4592, Exp. Dec 2024
T4660, T4661, T4696, T4697, T4709, T4772, T4773, Exp. Jan 2025
T4844, T4845, Exp. Feb 2025
Lacri-Lube, 0.12-ounce tubes (763,426 total units, with UPC code 300230312042):
387489, Exp. Oct 2024
387490, Exp. Jun 2025
390422, Exp. Nov 2024
390424, Exp. Oct 2024
391692, Exp. Jun 2025
391893, Exp. Nov 2025
394822, Exp. Feb 2026
395991, Exp. Mar 2026
397905, 397973, 397974, Exp. May 2026
399019, 399254, Exp. Jun 2026
399922, Exp. Jul 26
408738, Exp. Mar 2027
T3911, Exp. Sep 2024
T4015, T4031, T4032, T4033, T4108, Exp. Oct 2024
On September 23, the FDA categorized this a Class II recall, meaning exposure “may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health effects.”
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