Is that a mushroom in your eye or are you just happy to see me?

One of the biggest (if not THE biggest) contact lens solution maker, Bausch & Lomb Inc., has settled nearly 600 lawsuits, worth around $250 million, with customers who contracted fungal infections after using the flagship product, ReNu MoistureLoc., the Associated Press reported. The company still has many more claims to settle.

Bausch and Lomb, a now privately-held company since the recall of this product three years ago, was blamed for having caused Fusarium keratitis, a serious fungal infection, in about 700 people in American and Asia. Having keratitis, an inflammation or infection of the cornea or the outer layer of the eye, that can cause intense pain and impaired vision (potentially forever). Fusarium is the name of the fungus found in soil and plants.

How bad were these eye infections? They were so bad that seven people had an eye removed and 60 more people needed cornea-transplants to save their vision, the AP reported.

Read the full AP story

Disturbing...