Patients who use Avastin to treat certain eye conditions are reporting side effects sometimes referred to as Avastin air bubbles.

The cancer treatment drug Avastin is generically known as bevacizumab. Avastin is FDA-approved to treat colon cancer, lung cancer, and brain cancer. It is often prescribed off-label to treat eye problems such as macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion, diabetic macular edema and diabetic retinopathy.

Although medical professionals are able to legally prescribed medications for off-label purposes, drug companies are not allowed to promote or advertise medications for off-label uses because the FDA has not yet approved the drug for those purposes. More than 20 percent of drugs used in the United States are reportedly used off-label purposes.

Avastin air bubbles that appear in patients’ eyes are not the result of a problem with the drug itself but with the delivery system that leaves unsuspecting patients open to an array of adverse side effects.

Avastin eye injections are sometimes administered using syringes that are not designed and made for ophthalmic use. Ophthalmologists rely on compounding pharmacies to prepare syringes filled with the medication. Syringes that are not made specifically for eye injections are often lubricated with silicone oil. The silicone oil allows the plunger to move through the barrel with greater ease.

Unfortunately for eye patients, the silicone can migrate into the syringe mixing with the medication. The longer a filled syringe sits on a shelf the higher the risk of silicone contamination in the medication. Freezing pre-filled syringes also tends to increase the amount of silicone that mixes with Avastin in the syringe. Unfortunately, when silicone-laced syringes are used in the eyes, the patient may experience Avastin air bubbles.

Avastin Air Bubbles Can Cause Side Effects

The silicone particles that float around inside the eye may cause more serious issues than just the irritation of seeing Avastin air bubbles.

Possible side effects of Avastin air bubbles include inflammation, infection, retinal tearing or retinal detachment. Some patients with Avastin air bubbles allegedly experience cataracts, glaucoma (increased pressure in the eye), or hypotony (decreased pressure in the eye). Corneal damage or even vision loss and blindness are possible issues that can also be caused by Avastin air bubbles.

It is thought that because Avastin-filled syringes are prepared in a facility away from the office of the doctor who will actually deliver the medication into the eye Avastin, these syringes have an increased risk for contamination.

According to adverse event reports, serious eye infections linked to Avastin-filled syringes were diagnosed in 2011 in both Florida and Tennessee. Several patients experienced blindness, and one person developed brain damage after the infection spread to his brain. The FDA was able to determine which pharmacies allegedly distributed the contaminated syringes and recalled the lot, but it was too late for the affected patients.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or Avastin silicone injection class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, Avastin lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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