Older persons in long-term care facilities have a right to be free of this generally unseen kind of abuse. This is their residence.
Controlled drug theft, such as opioid pain medicine (OPM), has been examined in health care settings such as hospitals, pharmacies, hospice, and pain clinics. While state authorities, pharmacists, and care advocates are aware that these thefts occur in long-term care facilities, the magnitude and severity of the problem are mostly unclear due to a vacuum in empirical research and a lack of statewide surveillance.
Assistant Research Professor Eilon Caspi, a gerontologist and researcher at the University of Connecticut’s Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, undertook a study to raise awareness of OPM theft in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Caspi worked with Purdue University School of Nursing PhD candidate Wei-Lin Xue and nursing Professor Pi-Ju (Marian) Lu.
The exploratory study is the first to investigate OPM theft in long-term care settings like as assisted living facilities and nursing homes, according to the researchers. Between 2013 and 2021, the Minnesota Department of Health classified 107 investigation reports as “drug diversion” in 104 Minnesota-based long-term care institutions.
It discovered that a total of 11,328.5 pills were taken from 368 people, albeit the real number of stolen tablets is likely to be greater because 12% of the investigation reports evaluated in the study did not specify the quantity of prescriptions stolen.
“On one side, it’s unexpected, but on the other hand, long-term care institutions are routinely left behind. That was true both before and during the devastating COVID-19 outbreak. “All too often, it appears like these care homes are the forgotten element of our healthcare system,” adds Caspi. “My aim is that this exploratory study will increase public awareness of this sort of elder maltreatment and stimulate education in these settings and inspire other researchers to explore it more extensively. Older persons in long-term care facilities have a right to be free of this generally unseen kind of abuse. This is their residence.”
Among the study’s other results are:
Approximately 94% of the stolen prescriptions were narcotic pain relievers (OPM).
The average length of a heist was 56 days.
In most cases, controlled drug theft was committed by a single employee.
Nurses made up over half of the personnel who stole the drugs.
In at least 43% of occurrences, nurses were the first to suspect pharmaceutical theft.
Employees stole drugs for personal use, such as pain treatment, according to the great majority of investigative reports.
Medication theft can have serious implications. Patients may suffer extreme agony if their medicine is stolen or tampered with. Staff that are chemically impaired may have a detrimental influence on the quality of care provided to residents. Staff may potentially lose their licences or be sued for negligence.
The researchers hope that the study will prompt the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to begin tracking this phenomenon in approximately 15,000 nursing homes, as well as the National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS) to include it in its centralised mistreatment complaints dataset for nursing homes and assisted living residences.
Researchers, regulators, and the long-term care business can better understand the incidence and severity of pain medication theft, as well as the risk factors, with standard nationwide tracking. They might then devise preventative efforts and safeguard people’ access to prescribed drugs.
“If you don’t track prescription theft, it simply doesn’t exist and you’re powerless to fight it,” Caspi explained.
Caspi emphasises that monitoring is only one part of combating OPM theft. Several reasons impact the occurrence of prescription theft, including poor medication management policies, processes, and practises, personnel who do not secure drugs or ignore red signals, and other areas of vulnerability waiting to be exploited. A greater safety culture in long-term care institutions, tighter regulatory requirements and enforcement, and early identification might all aid in the prevention of OPM theft.
“Medication fraud does not happen in a vacuum. There are increased potential for theft if care facilities do not handle their prescriptions appropriately. Employees who are addicted to opiate pain relievers may often find out how to exploit such shortcomings,” Caspi added.
Another consideration is balancing the need to hold employees accountable while also providing assistance and treatment to people suffering from addiction in a dignified, stigma-free, yet effective manner.
Long-term care institutions have a legal, regulatory, and ethical responsibilities to safeguard residents against OPM theft. At the same time, OPM theft is frequently a sign of addiction, and just terminating an employee who is caught taking pain drugs does not assist the person or safeguard the public, according to Caspi.
To view Caspi’s webcast on the research findings, go to https://bit.ly/3RsyGKf.
Erin Balsa is a highly skilled and knowledgeable health journalist with a passion for educating the public on important health and wellness topics. With extensive experience in both traditional and digital media, Erin has established herself as a trusted voice in the field.