Grandmother lost eye from contaminated drops made in India; maker faces no accountability
MIAMI (SOA) — For years, we've been revealing a disturbing truth about where our medicines are made: overseas, away from regulation and with potentially deadly consequences.
Now, there's a shocking new chapter.
When bad drugs impact U.S. patients, holding foreign makers accountable is nearly impossible.
A morning routine for Florida grandmother Clara Oliva looks nothing like it should.
Each day, she removes and cleans her prosthetic eye and navigates her once-active life, now legally blind.
It started in 2022, when her health insurance switched her eye drops from a name brand to a generic. Agony set in.
Speaking in Spanish, Oliva told us, "I even fainted two times from just pain. It felt like broken glass inside your eye, and that would radiate to the rest of my head."
Doctors were baffled, along with Clara's son, Enrique.
He said eventually, doctors told them they were dealing with a super virus that had never been seen in the U.S.
He was watching his mother suffer until he was told how dire the situation had become.
They told us there's no treatment for this," he said, "There's a greater risk now. This virus can go into her other eye. This virus can go into her blood system or it can go into her brain. So we need to extract the eye and we need you to explain that to your mom.
They were told that if she didn't have the eye removed, the infection could have killed her in a matter of days.
The bacteria that invaded Clara's eye, resistant to almost all antibiotics, were eventually traced back to a manufacturer in India called Global Pharma Healthcare Limited.
Court documents claim it was making capsules, syrup, ointments, eye products, and antibiotics for customers all over the world.
Still, the FDA never inspected the facility until a year after patients fell ill.
In 2023, they found "pervasive contamination," saying all drugs Global Pharma made were "manufactured under insanitary conditions."
According to the CDC, more than 100 people were infected, four died, and four others, including Clara Oliva, lost their eyes.
Today, she relies on her sons for everyday tasks and shies away from a role she once embraced: grandmother.
"I distanced myself so they wouldn't see me suffering, but I miss them so, so, so much; they're my grandchildren," she said. "And I love them with all my heart."
When asked what the manufacturer took from her, she told us, "My life."
It's a life she can't get back.
We've now learned the maker of eye drops connected to the outbreak has faced no accountability.
Effectively, there a ghost entity," said Ryan Yaffa, an attorney who represents the family. "To my knowledge, no law firm or claimant here in the United States has been able to effectively serve them and hail them into a US court to be held accountable.
Yaffa tried twice to serve Global Pharma. Due to international treaties, the process takes six months.
The first time a bailiff tried to serve the company, its headquarters were empty.
"The second time, the bailiff went out to Global Pharma's headquarters. Not only was the property vacated like last time, but a new entity was moving in, and it wasn't Global Pharma," Yaffa said. "So the defendant, the manufacturer, must have gotten word and shipped off somewhere else to continue doing what they're doing."
Today, Global Pharma's website, a stark contrast to what Yaffa describes, boasts an active portfolio all over the world, with "precision-crafted eye drops" and "world-class quality."
It's unclear if Global's products still make their way to the US market, and what exactly they're manufacturing and where.
We requested an interview and sent a series of questions, but the company did not respond.
We also wanted to know if Global is still making products for American patients, so we asked both the company itself and the FDA. Neither answered the question.
We asked Clara Oliva what she would tell them if she had an opportunity.
I decided that I wouldn't tell them anything," she said. "First, I'd put them in jail so they'd pay for all the damage they did, not just to me, but to all the people who suffered, so they'd feel powerless there, in prison, like I am.
The tragedy with Global Pharma's eye drops is not an outlier. Our investigations uncovered dozens of Indian drug companies cited by the FDA for incorrectly made medicines, contamination and falsified or destroyed records, potentially threatening patients to this day.
The companies are nearly impossible to hold accountable, even when their actions cost lives.
For Clara's son Enrique, the effects are bigger than just their family.
"It's real. This is not a handful of cases," he said. "This doesn't impact one person. It impacts a family. And in our case, it impacted three generations, four generations."
To see all of our investigations into foreign-made generic and over-the-counter drugs, click here, or watch below:
Key Insights
- This topic is currently trending
- Experts are closely monitoring developments
- It may impact future decisions
