Expired Naloxone Found in Medication Storage Room
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in medication management when an observation of the medication storage room revealed a vial of Naloxone 0.4 mg/mL, 1 mL PRN injection stored in the medication refrigerator with a manufacturer’s expiration date of 12/2025, which facility staff considered expired. During an interview, the DON confirmed that the Naloxone vial was expired and acknowledged it should have been removed from the refrigerator and placed in the designated pharmacy return or destruction area. Review of the facility’s Medication Storage and Expiration policy, revised 09/2010, showed that staff are required to audit medication storage areas regularly and remove any medications that have reached their expiration date, indicating that this required auditing and removal process was not effectively carried out for this medication. This deficient practice was cited as having the potential to affect any resident requiring emergency opioid overdose reversal by providing a medication with potentially reduced efficacy.
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