Stanton County Health Care: Insulin Pen Unlabeled - KS
The pen contained Lantus, a long-acting insulin. The cart was labeled with the name of a resident identified in inspection records as Resident 4. But the pen itself was blank.
The inspection at Stanton County Health Care Facility LTCU, a 22-bed long-term care unit at 404 N. Chestnut in Johnson, took place on August 28, 2025. Inspectors visited the medication room three days earlier, on August 25, at just after 2 p.m. That is when they found the unlabeled pen.
A licensed nurse, identified in the report as Licensed Nurse G, was present during the medication room tour. She confirmed that the pen should have carried the resident's name and the date it was first used. She did not dispute the finding.
The missing label matters for a specific reason. Insulin pens are not single-use vials. Once opened, they are used repeatedly over days or weeks, and the date of first use is what tells staff whether the medication is still within its safe window. Without that date, nobody could say how long the pen had been open. Without the resident's name, nobody could say with certainty it belonged to the right cart at all.
Stanton County's own medication storage policy, updated January 28, 2025, states that drug containers with missing labels are to be returned to the pharmacy for proper labeling before storage. The pen had not been returned. It was sitting in the cart, available for use.
The facility had 22 residents at the time of the inspection. Inspectors reviewed 12 of them as part of their sample. Only Resident 4 was identified in connection with this finding.
CMS cited the deficiency under F0761, which covers drug labeling and locked storage requirements. The level of harm was listed as minimal harm or potential for actual harm. The number of residents affected was listed as few.
That classification, minimal harm, reflects that no documented injury was recorded. It does not mean the risk was theoretical. Lantus insulin, given in the wrong dose or to the wrong person, can cause blood sugar to drop to dangerous levels. A pen with no date could have been open for a week or for two months. The inspection report does not say which, because there was no date to check.
The facility's policy existed. The nurse knew what the label should say. The pen was there anyway.
Stanton County Health Care Facility LTCU is a small rural facility in the far southwest corner of Kansas, in a county of fewer than 2,000 people. The inspection was triggered by a complaint, not a routine survey cycle. The report does not describe what the complaint involved or whether it was related to the medication finding.
For Resident 4, a diabetic patient dependent on insulin to manage their condition, the unlabeled pen represented something concrete: staff administering their medication had no written record of when that pen's clock started running.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Stanton County Health Care Facility Ltcu from 2025-08-28 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: July 1, 2026 · Our methodology
STANTON COUNTY HEALTH CARE FACILITY LTCU in JOHNSON, KS was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 28, 2025.
The pen contained Lantus, a long-acting insulin.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.