[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 135 (Friday, July 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-17273]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 15, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 94-29]

 

Community Methadone Health Services Revocation of Registration

    On February 10, 1994, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause to Community Methadone Health Services 
(Respondent), of Rockville, Maryland, proposing to revoke its DEA 
Certificate of Registration, RC0173271, and to deny any pending 
applications for registration as a narcotic treatment program. The 
Order to Show Cause alleged that Respondent's continued registration 
would be inconsistent with the public interest as that term is used in 
21 U.S.C. 823(g) and 824(a)(4), in that on September 23, 1992, an 
investigation of the Community Methadone Health Services narcotic 
treatment program (program) by the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse 
Administration indicated lax accountability controls and shortages of 
17,000 mg. of methadone, a Schedule II controlled substance; that on 
March 6, 1993, an investigation of the narcotic treatment program by 
the DEA indicated shortages of 44,339 mg. of methadone, and in 
addition, the program failed to maintain complete and accurate records 
in violation of 21 CFR 1304.21(a), permitted the unauthorized handling 
of methadone by an employee in violation of 21 CFR 1301.74(h), failed 
to comply with a U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation 
regarding take-home doses in violation of 21 CFR 1301.74(k), failed to 
document the alleged theft or loss of a controlled substance in 
violation of 21 CFR 1301.76(b), and failed to execute a power of 
attorney for the execution of DEA order forms required under 21 CFR 
1305.07; that on March 6, 1993, an investigation of the narcotic 
treatment program by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental 
Hygiene agencies indicated numerous violations of State and Federal 
law, and in lieu of issuing a cease and desist order, the state entered 
an agreement in which the program ceased operations until the 
completion of the state investigation, and subsequently, a consent 
agreement allowed the program to reopen on April 30, 1993, under 
specified conditions and guidelines, including a prohibition of its 
owner from participating in day to day program operations; that the 
Community Methadone Health Services narcotic treatment program was 
initially registered with the DEA on May 4, 1992 and its owner and 
executive director is Mr. Daniel Flint; that on December 2, 1987, Mr. 
Daniel Flint was convicted of attempting to obtain a controlled 
dangerous substance and was sentenced to one year probation in 
Montgomery County, Maryland; that in March 1993, Mr. Daniel Flint 
allegedly acquired methadone for his own use from a private physician 
in Washington, DC, and as a result, on June 25, 1993, he was arrested 
in Montgomery County, Maryland for obtaining methadone by fraud, and 
subsequently, on July 8, 1993, was indicted for this offense in the 
Superior Court of Washington, DC; and that on August 6, 1993, the 
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Division of Drug 
Control ordered the suspension of Community Methadone Health Services' 
controlled dangerous substances (CDS) registration, and therefore, 
Community Methadone Health Services is not authorized to handle 
controlled substances in the state in which it operates.
    The Respondent, by its Director, Daniel Flint, responded to the 
Order to Show Cause and requested a hearing. Counsel for the Government 
filed a motion for summary disposition on April 15, 1994, alleging that 
the Respondent no longer held state authorization to handle controlled 
substances for reason that the Maryland Department of Health and Mental 
Hygiene, Division of Drug Control, ordered the suspension of 
Respondent's controlled dangerous substances (CDS) registration on 
August 6, 1993. The Respondent did not file any response to the 
Government motion.
    On May 17, 1994, the administrative law judge entered an order 
granting the Government's motion for summary disposition and 
recommended that the Respondent's registration be revoked. No 
exceptions were filed by either party. The administrative law judge 
transmitted the record to the Deputy Administrator on June 17, 1994.
    The Deputy Administrator has considered the record in its entirety 
and, under the provision of 21 CFR 1316.67, enters his final order in 
this matter, based on findings of fact and conclusions of law as 
hereinafter set forth.
    No evidentiary hearing was held in this case as there were no 
factual issues involved, only a question of law. Judge Tenney found 
that the Respondent lacked state authorization to handle controlled 
substances in the State of Maryland, the jurisdiction in which the 
Respondent is registered with the DEA. Judge Tenney concluded that DEA 
has no authority to maintain a DEA registration, where the registrant 
is without state authority to handle controlled substances.
    The DEA has consistently held that it does not have statutory 
authority under the Controlled Substances Act to register a 
practitioner unless that practitioner is authorized by the state to 
dispense controlled substances. The Administrator has consistently held 
that termination of a registrant's state authority to handle controlled 
substances requires that DEA revoke the registrant's DEA Certificate of 
Registration. See Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11919 (1987); Lawrence R. 
Alexander, M.D., 57 FR 22256 (1992).
    The Deputy Administrator adopts the findings and recommendation of 
the administrative law judge. Based on the foregoing, the Deputy 
Administrator concludes that the Respondent's registration must be 
revoked. 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3). In light of Respondent's lack of state 
authorization to handle controlled substances in the State of Maryland, 
the Deputy Administrator concludes that it is not necessary to address 
whether Respondent's continued registration is inconsistent with the 
public interest.
    Accordingly, the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, pursuant to the authority vested in him by 21 U.S.C. 
823 and 824 and 28 CFR 0.100(b) and 0.104 (59 FR 23637), hereby orders 
that DEA Certificate of Registration, RC0173271, previously issued to 
Community Methadone Health Services, be, and it hereby is, revoked, and 
that any pending applications for registration, be, and they hereby 
are, denied. This order is effective July 15, 1994.

    Dated: July 8, 1994.
Stephen H. Greene,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-17273 Filed 7-14-94; 8:45 am]
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