Over-the-counter drugs -- medications for which we don't need prescriptions, like aspirin -- don't get as much attention as billion-dollar prescription drugs. However, they can also be dangerous to consumers, and they can also be the subject of a dangerous drugs lawsuit. For example, in 2006 and 2007, two different contact lens solutions were recalled by their manufacturers because they caused types of keratisis, a serious eye infection that can lead to blindness if left untreated. Renu brand contact lens solution was contaminated with a fusarium fungus; Advanced Medical Optics solution was contaminated with an amoeba. Both manufacturers faced multiple lawsuits as a result.
More recently, the FDA issued a warning asking parents of children under age two to avoid using over-the-counter cold and cough medicines, because it was too easy to overdose very small children. Drug companies had already discontinued sales of infant medicines because they sometimes had serious, life-threatening side effects.
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