Expired and Improperly Stored Medications Found on Treatment Cart
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to ensure proper labeling, storage, and removal of expired or improperly stored medications from a treatment cart. Specifically, the cart contained an open, unlabeled, and undated bottle of normal saline irrigation fluid; an open, unlabeled tube of hydrophilic wound dressing with an expiration date of 3/31/25; two sealed multi-use vials of insulin (glargine and lispro) labeled for refrigeration but found unrefrigerated, with the LPN unable to determine how long they had been out; a tube of arthritis relief cream expired as of 1/2025; a tube of triamcinolone acetonide labeled to be discarded after 11/28/24; and an opened package of lidocaine jelly in an unsealed zip lock bag dated 4/4/25. These items were available for use on the cart at the time of the surveyor's review, and the LPN confirmed their presence and status.