A New Mexico woman has filed a lawsuit against Hubble Contacts, claiming that she had to have her eye removed due to defective contact lenses sold by the company. Stephanie Guarisco of Clovis alleges that she experienced severe pain and injury after using the lenses for only a few weeks, ultimately resulting in the loss of her right eye. Guarisco is suing Hubble’s parent company, Vision Path, for negligence, consumer fraud, and other charges.
According to the lawsuit, Guarisco purchased Hubble contact lenses through the company’s website in early 2020. She wore the daily lenses until late July of that same year when she began experiencing severe pain in her left eye. After visiting the emergency room, she was diagnosed with an inflamed iris condition called iridocyclitis. Guarisco was later diagnosed with a corneal ulcer of the left eye. Her eye issues continued to worsen, and she sought medical attention for allergy-like symptoms in her right eye, including discharge, redness, itching, and visual disturbances. She was eventually diagnosed with a corneal ulcer of the right eye and reported decreased vision.
Despite undergoing several surgeries to repair the ulcer, Guarisco’s procedures were unsuccessful, and she now has a permanent prosthetic in her right eye socket. Guarisco claims that Hubble contact lenses are made using Methafilcon A, a silicone-based polymer that many optometrists consider inappropriate for making contact lenses due to its lack of oxygen supply to the eye.
The lawsuit also accuses Vision Path of not following proper procedures for verifying customer prescriptions and paying customers for positive reviews of the lenses on its website. Vision Path has stated that it is taking the allegations seriously and is currently conducting an internal investigation.
This is not the first legal trouble for Hubble Contacts. In January 2022, Vision Path paid $3.5 million in a settlement to the Federal Trade Commission for various violations, including failing to obtain proper optometrist prescriptions for customers’ contact lenses. The company also paid nearly $375,000 in a settlement in Texas last June for deceptive marketing practices.
Founded in 2016, Vision Path sells its Hubble branded contact lenses online through a mail-order subscription model. The company claims that every set of lenses undergoes a thorough inspection process.