Home medications

[loveishope]

I need some guidance on how to handle something. When we have patients bring their home medications, we enter them in the computer. A patien brought their medication bottles in and I entered them in the computer. If we don't have the medications, then we use their home supply. The patient had a bottle of norco. We don't have to count it if we give it back to the family. Now the patient has filed a police report a month later stating that there are pills missing. Do I need to get an attorney?

[BluegrassRN]

Do you have malpractice insurance? If so, you need to contact them immediately. If not...I have no guidance for you. I suggest you speak with your manager and your risk management department for guidance. If you can afford a lawyer, I think it'd be a good idea to at least make contact with him/her.

[loveishope]

My manager told me I did not need to contact an attorney and I do not have malpractice insurance.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Get malpractice insurance now. Don't ever be without it.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Lesson learned- ALWAYS count controlled substances with 2 people. When I worked in the hospital, we would use home meds if we didn't carry them after they had been verified by the pharmacy. If the home med was a controlled substance, it went into the pyxis and was counted every time the medication was given, just as any other controlled substance would be.

How does one notice a month later that pills are missing? How does said person prove that he didn't just take all the pills and now wants a refill early?

[Cat_RN, ASN, BSN, RN]

Lesson learned- ALWAYS count controlled substances with 2 people. When I worked in the hospital, we would use home meds if we didn't carry them after they had been verified by the pharmacy. If the home med was a controlled substance, it went into the pyxis and was counted every time the medication was given, just as any other controlled substance would be.

How does one notice a month later that pills are missing? How does said person prove that he didn't just take all the pills and now wants a refill early?

Good point. Is anyone going to really 'buy' this guy's story anyway? I'd think this would be a very hard thing to prove. What a mess.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

we do not take the home meds out of their hands except to record. In fact, we no longer need that as we have a new program where we query pharmacies about prescriptions acquired. We ask family to take meds home. In the past, if meds stayed for any reason, we had a security person come up with a big envelope, the count was done in front of the patient, the contents were written on the outside of the envelope and the envelope was sealed then taken to Pharmacy. Funny how Norco, Ultram and Oxycontin were the drugs we were accused of "stealing".