Lawsuit Filed Against Contact Lens Company by Woman Who Lost Vision in Right Eye

A woman from New Mexico has filed a lawsuit alleging that she had to remove one of her eyes due to defective contact lenses sold by Hubble Contacts. Stephanie Guarisco of Clovis claims that she experienced severe pain and injury within a few weeks of using the lenses, eventually resulting in the loss of her right eye. She is suing Hubble’s parent company, Vision Path, on grounds of negligence, consumer fraud, and other counts.

The complaint states that “Hubble contact lenses were unsafe, defective, and inherently dangerous, as they were prone to a high rate of eye infections and corneal damage during normal use.” Guarisco purchased the Hubble contact lenses through the company’s website in early 2020 and wore them until late July of the same year. After experiencing severe pain in her left eye and being diagnosed with iridocyclitis, an inflamed iris condition, she was later diagnosed with a corneal ulcer. Her eye issues worsened, and she sought medical attention for allergy-like symptoms in her right eye, which included discharge, redness, itching, and visual disturbances. She was diagnosed with a corneal ulcer in her right eye and reported decreased vision.

Despite undergoing several unsuccessful surgeries to repair the ulcer, Guarisco ultimately had to have a permanent prosthetic placed in her right eye socket.

Methafilcon A and safety concerns

Guarisco claims that her vision was lost due to Hubble contact lenses being made with Methafilcon A, a silicone-based polymer, in Taiwan. Many optometrists argue that this material is not suitable for making contact lenses as it does not provide sufficient oxygen to the eye. While Hubble’s contact lenses are approved by the FDA, Methafilcon A is considered an inferior material that is no longer recommended for contact lenses in the United States, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint also alleges that Vision Path did not follow proper procedures for verifying customer prescriptions and paid customers for positive reviews of the lenses on its website.

Vision Path released a statement acknowledging the seriousness of the lawsuit’s allegations and stating that they are conducting an internal investigation.

Hubble, a direct-to-consumer business, sells its contact lenses online through a mail-order subscription model. Founded in 2016, the company claims that every set of lenses undergoes a rigorous inspection process.

Prior legal issues

This is not the first time Hubble has faced legal troubles. In January 2022, Vision Path agreed to pay $3.5 million to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of a settlement concerning various violations, including failing to obtain proper optometrist prescriptions for customers’ contact lenses. The FTC’s Contact Lens Rule requires contact lens sellers to either obtain a copy of the consumer’s prescription or verify the prescription information with their vision care provider. This settlement was the largest ever paid for violating U.S. contact lens rules. Vision Path also settled for nearly $375,000 in Texas last June for deceptive marketing.