Expired Medications Not Removed from Storage
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to ensure proper storage and timely disposal of expired medications in accordance with its own policies and procedures. During inspections, two bags of expired vancomycin were found in the medication refrigerator, with pharmacy labels indicating a use-by date that had already passed. The Director of Nursing confirmed that the medication order had been discontinued prior to the expiration date and that the expired medications should have been removed and placed in the pharmaceutical bin for disposal. Additionally, two unopened bottles of expired lutein were found in the house supply medication cabinet, and a tube of expired Microdot Glucose Gel was identified in a medication cart. In each instance, staff acknowledged that expired medications should have been removed and disposed of according to facility policy, but this had not occurred. Record reviews and staff interviews confirmed that the facility's policies require discontinued and expired medications to be immediately removed from stock and disposed of in a secure manner. Despite these policies, expired medications remained accessible in multiple storage locations, including the medication refrigerator, medication room, and medication cart. The failure to remove and dispose of these medications as required was verified by both nursing staff and the Director of Nursing during the survey.