Avastin, an eye disease medication, has been linked with silicone floaters that can lead to serious eye injection side effects.

Silicone floaters can appear as small black discs in a person’s eye and can be introduced to the eye via Avastin injection. Eye injection side effects from the silicone can include inflammation, retinal tearing and detachment, and vision problems.

Avastin Eye Injections

Avastin (also known by its generic name, bevacizumab) is a medication applied via injection and used to treat certain eye diseases. Avastin was first used as a kind of cancer treatment. Doctors recently discovered Avastin could be used as a treatment for certain eye diseases. Now the medication is used in injections for a number of eye diseases.

Eye diseases treated by Avastin eye injection include macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion, diabetic macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy.  While Avastin has only been approved officially by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat cancer, it is often prescribed off-label to treat these eye diseases. Using a drug like Avastin off-label is both a normal and legal method of treatment.

It is not the off-label use of Avastin for eye disease treatment that has become a cause for concern among patients and doctors, but rather an issue with the production and preparation of the silicone injection itself.  Avastin eye injections have been linked with a number of problems.

Avastin eye injections are pre-filled into a syringe long before they are actually used. After being filled, silicone oil is used to lubricate the syringe on the needle, barrel, and plunger.

At this point, the syringes can spend a few days to several weeks sitting around on a pharmacy shelf waiting to be used.  As the pre-filled syringes sit around, particles from the silicone oil lubrication can leak into the bevacizumab drug.

When it comes time to inject the medication, silicone particles sometimes go with it and become injected directly into a patient’s eye. This causes the black discs that many Avastin users notice.  The black discs are silicone floaters that have been left after the injection.  Unfortunately, these black discs left around in the eye have been linked with a number of eye injection side effects.

Avastin Eye Injection Side Effects

Patients have reported a number of eye injection side effects linked with Avastin, including:

• Increased intraocular pressure
• Inflammation
• Infection (endophthalmitis)
• Retinal tearing
• Retinal detachment
• Cataract formation
• Glaucoma (increased pressure in the eye)
• Hypotony (reduced pressure in the eye)
• Corneal damage
• Vision loss/blindness
• Other sight-related complications

Filing a Lawsuit Over Avastin Eye Injection Side Effects

If you or someone you love has suffered from serious Avastin eye injection side effects, such as infection or inflammation, you may be able to file a lawsuit.  A legal professional can help you determine if filing an eye injection side effect lawsuit is right for you. Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by these eye injection side effects, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical expenses and lost wages. 

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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