A woman from New Mexico 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 counts.
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. Weeks later, she experienced severe pain in her left eye and sought medical attention. An optometrist diagnosed her with iridocyclitis, an inflamed iris condition. Guarisco was later diagnosed with a corneal ulcer in her left eye. However, her eye issues worsened, and she had to visit the emergency room for allergy-like symptoms in her right eye, including discharge, redness, itching, and visual disturbances. She was diagnosed with a corneal ulcer in her right eye and reported decreased vision.
Despite undergoing several surgeries to repair the ulcer, they were unsuccessful, and Guarisco now has a permanent prosthetic in her right eye socket. She 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. While Hubble’s contact lenses are FDA-approved, the lawsuit alleges that Methafilcon A is an inferior material no longer prescribed for contact lenses in the United States.
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 investigating the matter.
Vision Path, the parent company of Hubble Contacts, previously paid a $3.5 million settlement to the Federal Trade Commission in January 2022 for various violations, including failing to obtain proper optometrist prescriptions for customers’ contact lenses. The company also paid a settlement of nearly $375,000 in Texas last June for deceptive marketing practices.
Hubble Contacts, founded in 2016, sells its contact lenses online through a mail-order subscription model. The company emphasizes its multi-layer inspection process on its website.
This lawsuit adds to the legal troubles faced by Hubble Contacts and Vision Path, highlighting concerns about the safety and quality of their products.