Failure to Properly Store, Label, and Remove Medications
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that drugs and biologicals were not stored in accordance with accepted professional standards in two medication carts and one medication room. In Medication Cart A, discontinued topical treatments for a resident were found, as well as a topical treatment for another resident who no longer had an order for it. In Medication Cart B, medications belonging to residents who had been discharged for several months were still present, along with a bottle of medication lacking a resident name, prescribing physician, or directions for use. Additionally, a Hemoccult test fluid was stored with oral medications, and several discontinued or unlabeled topical treatments and an irrigation solution without a resident name were found. Staff interviews confirmed that these medications and treatments should have been removed when discontinued or when residents were discharged, but this was not done. In the medication room, an open, undated bottle of injectable medication for Tuberculosis testing and a vaccine syringe for a resident that was dispensed but not administered were found in the refrigerator. Fifteen bags of intravenous antibiotics for a resident with a discontinued order were also present, with staff confirming that the medication should have been destroyed after discontinuation. Additionally, a resident was observed to have unsecured bottles of vision supplements and multivitamins at their bedside on multiple occasions, and staff acknowledged that these should have been secured in a lockbox and reported. These findings demonstrate failures in medication storage and labeling, as well as in the timely removal and destruction of discontinued or unassigned medications.