Systane Vials - Dumb Change in Design

[NYer]

Like many of us here, when I use the eyedrops from the preservative free vials, I re-close the vial and use the rest of it later. It's true that you should not do that if there is a long time between uses, due to the possibility of contamination. But in my case, like with many of us dry eye sufferers, I usually use the rest of the vial up within an hour.

So when I was not able to re-close a vial of Systane yesterday and again this morning, I called their (Alcon's) 800 number to complain and request a replacement for the wasted drops.

They informed me that even though many customers have complained and are unhappy about it, they have unilaterally decided to make the vials non-recloseable. So, in other words, whatever you drip out in one shot is all you get to use. They use the rediculous logic that the extra drops are just there in case you don't get it right on the first try, so you have some extra liquid... but that the liquid is not there for you to use for further drops later on unless you find some other way to re-close it yourself (she actually said that to me).

Like they weren't expensive enough before, now you have to waste half of the product, too.

May I suggest that any of you who use Systane call them to complain? Maybe they'll put them back the way they were.
Their number is 1-800-757-9195

[Guest]

Just something else I noticed about Systane but haven't raised it until now is the vial size.

when I was in the US recently the vial size is 0.40mls however, in Australia and here in the UK the size was 0.80ml so it is double the size plus you get the same number of vials in a pack.

The price in the US was about US$15.00 per pack, in Australia they were AU$13.00 so with the exchange rate the drops in Australia are not only much better value price wise but also the size of the vials is double.

Just something to keep an eye out for.

the ones I have are resealable (reusable) but I have noticed that Refresh are doing exactly the same thing here. Theratears were also reuseable but the new vials are not.

Seems like a consistent trend by all manufacturers - anyone else think it is a ploy for us sufferers to buy more of their product.

cheers

ian

[Rebecca Petris]

My guess is it's at least partly liability motivated. There are plenty of people who close those things up and then store them improperly (pants pocket, grungy purse, etc), asking for contamination.

[NYer]

Very interesting points, Ian. Yes, TheraTears has always had that rediculous vial that doesn't re-close. That's one of the reasons I don't use them (I don't like the tears that much either). But price-wise, it sounds like it's worth a coach fare for a round-trip to Australia and I'll buy up all their eyedrops! It's particularly frustrating to know this on top of having the US Dollar be so lousy right now.

I'm sure Rebecca is correct about it being a liability issue. Nevertheless, it seems to be an outright shame for a pharmaceutical company to be able to take advantage of the people who need their products so desparately, by decreasing the amount of product and raising prices.
It's not like raising the price of Hershey Bars, which you don't have to eat (well, OK, that was a bad example...I have to eat those). It's not really a choice for us to use eyedrops or not, although we do have a choice of brand.

I was so annoyed when the Customer Service rep actually said that people could try to find their own ways to re-close the vials. Oh, sure. I'll carry around a roll of duct tape to re-seal it.

[Rebecca Petris]

Regarding pricing: Don't forget that plastics are petroleum products. Unit dose eyedrop packaging is therefore much more vulnerable to spiraling oil prices because FAR more plastic is used per mL of drops.

I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually see Tranquileyes go up before long for the same reason... the foam is very expensive. (Mind, I'm not hinting, that's just my personal speculation).

[Abqfriend]

Systane

My Systane individual drops are made in France. My guess is they had a packaging re-design across their company.
My problem with their individual packaging is I believe their dropper is not as consumer friendly as TheraTears.
I have called Alcon and told them that. I asked them to compare their individual drop dispenser with Thera-Tears and see the difference. I told them that too-and spoke to their representative about the problem as I see it. I also offered to send them an empty Thera-Tears drop holder so they could compare themselves.
Dry Eyes is a multi-million dollar industry-just look at the space provided for it in any retail pharmacy. Companies have to be competitive to survive. I am sure Alcon/Systane will listen to consumer suggestions if put to them in a constructive manner. The person I spoke to in their Consumer Affairs department was very nice.

[faithlies]

An idea....

I'm new to single dose drops (Celluvisc) and I was a bit of a dummy, didn't realise at first that you could re-seal them and I was trying to work out how I could do that myself.

Originally, I was carrying all my drops (started off as FML, Viscotears, anti-biotics and Blink) in a glasses case.

Since stopping ALL of those drops and just using Celluvisc, my handbag is considerably lighter

Just an idea though for the non-resealable vials. How about carrying a small square of clingfilm to wrap tightly around the open vial? Might work and should prevent any nasties creeping in

[Lucy]

Just an idea though for the non-resealable vials. How about carrying a small square of clingfilm to wrap tightly around the open vial? Might work and should prevent any nasties creeping in

Actually that would work, especially if you put it in a pocket inside the purse! Preferably a zippered compartment with nothing else in there. Lucy

[Judy]

Well reading this post is exciting for me as I had not realized that Systane PF eyedrops were availalble again. I will buy a box to try and try not to freak out that I can only use them once...