Failure to Properly Date and Discard Opened Medications
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that medications were properly dated when opened and discarded in a timely manner, as required by facility policy and manufacturer recommendations. During observations of two medication carts, surveyors found an opened bottle of Latanoprost eye drops and an opened vial of Lantus insulin, both lacking an open date. This omission made it impossible for staff to determine the appropriate discard date for these medications. Staff members, including LPNs, confirmed at the time of observation that the medications were not labeled with an open date and that the discard date could not be determined. The facility's policy requires all medications to be stored according to manufacturer recommendations, which for Latanoprost is to discard six weeks after opening and for Lantus insulin is to discard after 28 days at room temperature. The Regional Clinical Director confirmed that insulins and eye drop medications should be properly labeled with an open date to ensure timely disposal. The failure to label these medications as required was observed on two separate medication carts during the survey.