Expired Emergency Medications Found in E-Kit
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to ensure that emergency medications stored in the medication storage room were not expired. During an observation with an LPN, the emergency medication kit (E-kit) was found on the counter with a sticker indicating an expiration date of 6/27, which was unclear as to whether it referred to June 2025 or June 2027. Upon further inspection, two morphine pre-filled syringes inside the E-kit were found to have a manufacturer’s expiration date of June 2025, which had already passed. Additional medications in the E-kit also had printed expiration dates indicating they were expired, while some had handwritten expiration dates that were not expired, leading to confusion about which date should be used to determine if a medication was expired. The LPN acknowledged the presence of expired medications but was uncertain about which expiration date to follow. The pharmacy contact person confirmed that the morphine syringes were expired and agreed that the labeling on other medications was unclear, though she stated that staff were generally aware of the process. The DON and administrator also agreed with the findings and expected the pharmacy to remove expired medications from the E-kit. No policy regarding the management of expired medications was provided by the facility during the survey.