Expired and Unlabeled Medications Found in Medication Carts and Room
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified that the facility failed to appropriately discard outdated medications and did not ensure proper labeling of opened medications on two of four medication carts and in one of two medication rooms. Observations revealed an open bottle of Ibuprofen with an expiration date of 5/2025 and an open bottle of liquid protein without an open date on the first floor C-wing medication cart. Staff confirmed that the Ibuprofen was expired and the liquid protein lacked an open date, making it impossible to determine the discard date. Additionally, on the second floor C-wing medication cart, an open insulin pen of Lispro and an open vial of Lantus insulin were found to be beyond their use-by dates, as confirmed by staff. Further inspection of the second-floor medication room refrigerator revealed an open bottle of liquid Amoxicillin, four IV bags of Ceftriaxone, and three IV bags of Cefazolin, all of which were past their expiration dates. Staff interviews at the time of observation confirmed that these medications should have been discarded. The facility's policies required monitoring of medication expiration dates and proper labeling of multi-dose containers with the date opened, but these procedures were not followed, resulting in the presence of expired and improperly labeled medications in storage areas.