Failure to Properly Store, Label, and Remove Expired Medications and Supplies
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified that medications and related medical supplies were not stored and managed according to facility policy and regulatory requirements. Review of the facility’s “Storage of Medications” policy stated that medications must be stored in a safe, secure, and orderly manner in accordance with federal and state regulations. During an observation of the North Unit medication room, surveyors found multiple expired items, including blood collection tubes, vacutainers, IV start kits, IV extension sets, syringes, antibiotic ointment packets, cleansing towelettes, and oral fluid collection devices, all with past expiration dates. In addition, a partially used vial of tuberculin solution was found in the medication room refrigerator without any date indicating when it had been opened. A nurse (LPN) confirmed these observations at the time of the survey. Further observations of the South Unit medication cart revealed that several multi-dose ophthalmic medications were open and undated. Specifically, bottles of Timolol eye drops, Dorzolamide/Timolol, and Latanoprost were found open with no dates on either the bottles or their storage containers to indicate when they had been opened. The LPN using the cart acknowledged that these undated multi-dose medications were already present on the cart when medication administration began. In a subsequent interview, the DON confirmed that the facility failed to ensure that unlabeled medications were present on one of two medication carts and that out-of-date supplies were not properly stored or disposed of in one of two medication storage rooms.
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