[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 68 (Monday, April 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18143-18144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-8651]



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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[Docket No. 94-76]


Rosalind A. Cropper, Inc.; Denial of Application

    On August 31, 1994, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order [[Page 18144]] to Show Cause to Rosalind A. Cropper, M.D. and 
Rosalind A. Cropper, Inc., of New Orleans, Louisiana, proposing to 
revoke her DEA Certificate of Registration, BC0747381, as a 
practitioner, deny any pending application for registration as a 
practitioner and deny the application of Rosalind A. Cropper, Inc. 
(Respondent) for DEA registration as a Narcotic Treatment Program 
(NTP). The statutory basis for the Order to Show Cause was that Dr. 
Cropper's continued registration as a practitioner and Respondent's 
registration as an NTP would be inconsistent with the public interest 
as that term is used in 21 U.S.C. 823(f).
    Respondent, through counsel, requested a hearing on the issues 
raised in the Order to Show Cause, and the matter was docketed before 
Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner. On December 16, 1994, the 
Government filed a motion for summary disposition alleging that the 
State of Louisiana had denied Respondent's application to operate an 
NTP within that State, and, that Respondent lacked authority from the 
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to operate an NTP. The Government's 
motion was supported by a letter from an FDA official informing 
Respondent that because the State of Louisiana had denied its 
application to establish an NTP, the FDA was unable to approve its 
application. Respondents did not file a response to the Government's 
motion and did not deny that FDA and the State of Louisiana has denied 
its applications.
    On January 18, 1995, Judge Bittner issued her Opinion and 
Recommended Decision of the Administrative Law Judge and Order Severing 
Proceedings recommending that Respondent's application for DEA 
Certificate of Registration as an NTP be denied. Judge Bittner also 
ordered that the proceeding involving the proposed revocation of 
Respondent's registration as a practitioner be severed from Docket 94-
76, be redocketed, and that the parties continue with prehearing 
procedures regarding that matter. No exceptions to Judge Bittner's 
opinion were filed by either party.
    On February 21, 1995, the administrative law judge transmitted the 
record to the Deputy Administrator. After a careful consideration of 
the record in its entirety, the Deputy Administrator enters his final 
order in this matter, pursuant to 21 CFR 1316.67, based on findings of 
fact and conclusions of law as set forth herein.
    By letter dated December 16, 1994, Respondent was advised that the 
FDA was unable to approve her application to the FDA to operate an NTP 
because the State of Louisiana had denied her application to establish 
an NTP. Judge Bittner held that DEA does not have statutory authority 
under the Controlled Substances Act to register an NTP unless that 
entity is authorized by the FDA to dispense controlled substances. 21 
U.S.C. 823(g). In a proceeding to obtain registration as an NTP, if the 
applicant does not possess the requisite FDA authorization to operate 
an NTP, a motion for summary disposition is properly entertained for it 
is well settled that where no question of fact exists, or where the 
material facts are agreed, a plenary administrative proceeding is not 
required. Phillip E. Kirk, M.D., 48 FR 32887 (1983), aff'd sub nom, 
Kirk v. Mullen, 749 F.2d 297 (6th Cir. 1984).
    Accordingly, the Deputy Administrator adopts the Opinion and 
Recommended Decision of the Administrative Law Judge in its entirety. 
Based on the foregoing, 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, hereby orders that 
Respondent's application for DEA Certificate of Registration as an NTP 
be, and it hereby is, denied. This order is effective May 10, 1995.

    Dated: April 3, 1995.
Stephen H. Greene,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-8651 Filed 4-7-95; 8:45 am]
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