Dumb Discipline?

A London-area pharmacist is facing discipline from his professional regulator over allegations he improperly handed out opioid overdose antidote kits to members of the public – potentially life-saving drugs public health officials have pushed people to carry.

Jason Newman, the owner of Delaware Pharmacy southwest of London, is facing an Ontario College of Pharmacists disciplinary hearing Nov. 1 over his dispensing of naloxone, an emergency drug that temporarily blocks the effects of opioids.

The college alleges Newman handed out naloxone kits between Aug. 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018 without considering patients’ individual needs or the “clinical appropriateness” of supplying the drug.

The professional regulator also alleges Newman allowed or directed non-pharmacist employees to give patients naloxone kits in the community and solicited patients without complying with provincial disclosure regulations.

Early on, Newman was going door-to-door in neighbourhoods with high drug-use rates to get the kits out.

The injectable version of the drug has been available for free at participating pharmacies since June 2016. Nasal spray naloxone became publicly funded in Ontario in March 2018.

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