Abbott Medical Optics

Abbott Medical Optics Inc.
subsidiary
Industry Ophthalmology
Founded Santa Ana, California 2002 (2002)
Headquarters Santa Ana, California
Key people
 James V. Mazzo Chairman, President and CEO, Michael J. Lambert CFO
Products Ophthalmic pharmaceuticals
Surgical equipment
Contact care products
Number of employees
 3,800
Parent Abbott Laboratories
Website http://www.amo-inc.com/

Abbott Medical Optics Inc. earlier known as Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (also known as AMO) is a global medical supply company. Products in the ophthalmic surgical line include intraocular lenses, laser vision correction systems, phacoemulsification systems, viscoelastics, microkeratomes and related products used in cataract and refractive surgery. AMO is based in Santa Ana, California, and employs approximately 4,200 worldwide. The company has operations in 24 countries and markets products in approximately 60 countries.

History

AMO (originally Heyer-Schulte Medical Optics, renamed American Medical Optics after purchase by American Hospital Supply) started business in 1976 in the early development of intraocular lenses for cataract patients.

AMO was spun off from Allergan in 2002.

AMO bought Irvine-based IntraLase Corp. for $808 million in January 2007. This allowed AMO to combine IntraLase technology for cutting a flap in the cornea with AMO technology for reshaping the cornea. The combination of these complementary technologies has made "all-laser LASIK" possible.[1] NASA later approved this all-laser LASIK for use on astronauts.[2]

In August 2007 the company donated $2.5 million to UC-Irvine's Department of Ophthalmology to boost the university's planned Eye Institute.[2]

In February 2009 Advanced Medical Optics completed its acquisition of Abbott Laboratories|Abbott Optics[3]

In September 2016, pharmaceutical and medical device company Johnson & Johnson announced they were buying Abbott Medical Optics for $4.3 billion.[4]

Products

Voluntary recalls

AMO voluntarily recalled some of their products in 2006 due to a bacterial contamination in the factory process which would have compromised sterility. Non-sterility of a contact lens solution may have serious health consequences, including eye infection and microbial keratitis. The voluntary and limited recall was caused by an isolated production line problem that affected two of the four production lines in the AMO facility, not because of a formulation issue.[5]

In May 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked AMO MoisturePlus eye solution to Acanthamoeba keratitis infections.[6] AMO announced a recall on Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution on May 28, 2007.[7] The solution has been linked to cases of an eye infection (keratitis) caused by an organism of the genus Acanthamoeba.[8] The Company was sued in June 2007 by Michael Connolly, who claimed to have developed a keratitis infection after using AMO's MoisturePlus solution.[9][10]

On June 20, 2009 The Associated Press published an article titled, "Contact Solution Maker Failed to Report Problems". The article states, Complaints about a contact lens solution linked to a 2007 outbreak of eye infections that blinded several people went unreported by the manufacturer for more than a year, government documents show. The documents show Advanced Medical Optics received complaints about the solution more than a year before it was recalled, and failed to promptly report nine complaints as required by law.[11]

There are still many on-going class action lawsuits against AMO, claiming the non-sterile contact lens solution has caused injury and complete blindness in some cases.[12]

Abbott acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics

References

External links

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