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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.

The kits are intended for people at risk of opioid overdose or for members of the public who know or may encounter someone at risk of overdose. Among other things, pharmacists are required to educate patients about how to recognize the signs of overdose and administer the drug.

Pharmacies bill the provincial government for the naloxone kits they hand out. The province pays $120 for each nasal spray kit and $70 for each injectable kit dispensed by pharmacies.

More than 130 private pharmacies in London and Middlesex are participating in the provincial program, including Delaware Pharmacy.

In its summary of allegations, the college also claims Newman and his staff “misleadingly” said they were representatives of a government program when they were handing out the kits.

The college also alleges Newman violated a February 2018 undertaking where he agreed to follow the regulator’s naloxone dispensing policy.

Newman was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

The disciplinary action comes amid a coordinated push to make naloxone kits more publicly available.

Between July 2017 and June 2018, more than 1,800 kits were distributed for every 100,000 people in London and Middlesex County, a rate that ranked third-highest in Ontario.