Officials Reviewing Case of Five Kids Who Received Wrong Medication

Officials on Monday said in a statement that the cases of five kids that received wrong medicine at a county-run clinic for the uninsured is being reviewed in order to check if these incidents are criminal.

According to Salem County Prosecutor John T. Lenahan, the matter is being reviewed in response to an audit and subsequent investigation that disclosed that five children received wrong medication at the Salem County Department of Health and Social Services Shots for Tots clinic.

The five children who received wrong medication included two children who were injected with expired vaccines, one child who received the flu mist dose, one kid who received the Gardasil injection, and one child who received a vaccine that officials have not yet determined.

The New Jersey Department of Health was informed as required. Also the state officials will be holding a follow-up meeting later this week to discuss issues that have been identified, state DOH Director of Communications Donna Leusner said.

As of now the Shots for Tots clinic, which serves uninsured children, has been put on halt.

In addition, it has been found that two full-time nurses who ran the clinic Mandi Cassidy and Nikole Johnson resigned from the health department, county officials confirmed. It was told that Cassidy was the nursing supervisor at the clinic.

The irregularities at the clinic came to light during the annual state compliance audit of the program.

According to county officials, “The audit identified irregularities respecting its appraisal of standards, policies and competencies regarding the clinic operation, patient records, vaccine storage and medication dispensing”.

The director of the county department of health, Rita Shade also ordered a further review. Under this all charts of 22 people who served at the free clinic from July 1, 2014 through June of this year including 22 children and two adults were reviewed.