[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 155 (Friday, August 12, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19700]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 12, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 94-33]

 

Phillip L. Brown, D.D.S.; Revocation of Registration

    On July 23, 1993, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause to Phillip L. Brown, D.D.S. (Respondent) of Aurora, 
Colorado. The Order to Show Cause sought to revoke Respondent's DEA 
Certificate of Registration, AB2731998, and to deny any pending 
applications for renewal of such registration. 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(f). 
Specifically, the Order to Show Cause alleged that Respondent 
administered lethal doses of Demerol, a Schedule II controlled 
substance, and Valium, a Schedule IV controlled substance, while 
attempting to sedate a patient; and as a result of such action, 
Respondent pled guilty to and was convicted of one count of 
manslaughter in the State of Colorado and voluntarily surrendered his 
dental license to the Colorado State Board of Dental Examiners (Board), 
effective August 19, 1992.
    Respondent, acting on his own behalf, filed a timely request for a 
hearing. The matter was docketed before Administrative Law Judge Paul 
A. Tenney. Thereafter, the Government filed a motion for summary 
disposition alleging that Respondent no longer had state authority to 
handle controlled substances. Respondent did not file a response to 
this motion.
    On May 17, 1994, the administrative law judge issued an order 
stating that the motion for summary disposition was warranted as there 
was no question of material fact involved. Furthermore, he explained 
that the DEA lacks statutory authority to register a practitioner 
unless the practitioner currently has state authority to handle 
controlled substances and concluded that Respondent is without 
authority to handle controlled substances in the State of Colorado. 
Consequently, the administrative law judge granted the Government's 
motion for summary disposition and recommended that Respondent's DEA 
Certificate of Registration be revoked. No exceptions were filed and on 
June 17, 1994, the entire record of these proceedings was transmitted 
to the Deputy Administrator.
    After a careful review of the record in this matter, the Deputy 
Administrator adopts the administrative law judge's recommendation. DEA 
does not have the authority under the Controlled Substances Act to 
grant a registration to a practitioner if that practitioner is not 
authorized by a state to handle controlled substances. See Ramon Pla, 
M.D., Docket No. 86-54, 51 FR 41168 (1986); George S. Heath, M.D., 
Docket No. 86-24, 51 FR 26610 (1986); Dale D. Shahan, D.D.S., Docket 
No. 85-57, 51 FR 23481 (1986). There is no evidence in the record to 
contradict the Government's position that Respondent's Colorado dental 
license has been revoked pursuant to Respondent's surrender of his 
dental license and that his authority to handle controlled substances 
in the State of Colorado has been nullified. Consequently, revocation 
of Respondent's DEA registration is warranted.
    The Deputy Administrator concurs with the administrative law 
judge's granting of the Government's motion for summary disposition. In 
the absence of a question of material fact, a plenary adversary 
administrative proceeding is not required. See United States v. 
Consolidated Mines and Smelting Company, Ltd., 445 F.2d 432, 453 (9th 
Cir. 1971); N.L.R.B. v. International Association of Bridge, Structural 
and Ornamental Ironworkers, AFL-CIO, 549 F.2d 634 (9th Cir. 1977); 
Alfred Tennyson Smurthwaite, N.D., Docket No. 77-29, 43 FR 11873 
(1978).
    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, AB2731998, previously issued to 
Phillip L. Brown, D.D.S., be, and it hereby is, revoked and that any 
pending applications for renewal of such registration be, and they 
hereby are, denied. This order is effective August 12, 1994.

    Dated: August 5, 1994.
Stephen H. Greene,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-19700 Filed 8-11-94; 8:45 am]
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