[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 179 (Friday, September 15, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47967-47968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22921]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 95-24]
Carmencita E. Gallosa, M.D.; Revocation of Registration
On March 7, 1995, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an
Order to Show Cause to Carmencita E. Gallosa, M.D. (Respondent), of
Paintsville, Kentucky. The Order to Show Cause proposed to revoke
Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration, AG9685162, under 21
U.S.C. 824(a) (3), (4) and (5) and deny any pending applications for
renewal of such registration under 21 U.S.C. 823(f).
Respondent, through counsel, requested a hearing on the issues
raised by the Order to Show Cause, and the matter was placed on the
docket of Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner. On April 21,
1995, the Government filed a motion for summary disposition, alleging
that Respondent was not authorized to handle controlled substances in
the Commonwealth of Kentucky. On May 1, 1995, Respondent responded to
the Government's motion, arguing that her medical license had only been
temporarily suspended by the Board, and that any action by DEA should
be delayed until the Board holds an evidentiary hearing regarding
Respondent's medical license.
On May 10, 1995, in her opinion and recommended decision, the
administrative law judge granted the Government's motion for summary
disposition and recommended that Respondent's DEA Certificate of
Registration be revoked and that any pending applications for
registration be denied. On May 25, 1995, Respondent filed exceptions to
the opinion and recommended decision of the administrative law judge.
On June 12, 1994, the administrative law judge transmitted the record
to the Deputy Administrator. The Deputy Administrator has carefully
considered the entire record in this matter and, pursuant to 21 CFR
1316.67, hereby issues his final order in this matter based upon
findings of fact and conclusions of law as hereinafter set forth.
The administrative law judge found that the Government's motion for
summary disposition alleged that Respondent is not authorized to handle
controlled substances in Kentucky. The Government's motion was based on
the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure's January 19, 1995, Order of
Temporary
[[Page 47968]]
Suspension of Respondent's medical license. The administrative law
judge also found that Respondent's response to the Government's motion
did not deny that her state license has been temporarily suspended. The
administrative law judge therefore concurred with the Government's
motion regarding Respondent's lack of state authorization to handle
controlled substances in Kentucky.
The Drug Enforcement Administration cannot register or maintain the
registration of a practitioner who is not duly authorized to handle
controlled substances in the state in which he conducts his business.
21 U.S.C. 802(21), 823(f) and 824(a)(3). This prerequisite has been
consistently upheld. See James H. Nickens, M.D., 57 FR 59847 (1992);
Elliott Monroe, M.D., 57 FR 23246 (1992); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR
11919 (1988).
The administrative law judge properly granted the Government's
motion for summary disposition. It is well-settled that when no
question of fact is involved, or when the facts are agreed upon, a
plenary, adversary administrative proceeding involving evidence and
cross-examination of witnesses is not obligatory. The rationale is that
Congress does not intend administrative agencies to perform meaningless
tasks. Philip E. Kirk, M.D., 48 FR 32887 (1983), aff'd sub nom Kirk v.
Mullen, 749 F.2d 297 (6th Cir. 1984); Alfred Tennyson Smurthwaite,
N.D., 43 FR 11873 (1978; see also, NLRB v. International Association of
Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers, AFL-CIO, 549 F.2d 634
(9th Cir. 1977); United States v. Consolidated Mines and Smelting Co.,
Ltd., 455 F.2d 432, 453 (9th Cir. 1971).
In her exceptions to the opinion and recommended decision of the
administrative law judge, the Respondent argued, inter alia, that: her
state medical license had been temporarily suspended; DEA does not
possess the authority to suspend or revoke Respondent's DEA
registration pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3) under the circumstances of
this case; and, the administrative law judge exceeded her authority by
recommending revocation of Respondent's DEA registration without
affording Respondent a hearing.
The Respondent acknowledged in her exceptions that she is
temporarily suspended from the practice of medicine in the Commonwealth
of Kentucky. The action taken by the Board in suspending Respondent's
state license to practice medicine has rendered the Respondent without
authorization to handle controlled substances in the jurisdiction in
which she maintains her DEA registration. As outlined above, DEA cannot
register the Respondent to handle controlled substances without such
authority, and therefore, the administrative law judge's
recommendations in this matter were appropriate. As a result, the
Deputy Administrator finds that there is no need to address the
remaining arguments as set forth in Respondent's exceptions.
Moreover, since Respondent is not currently authorized to handle
controlled substances in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, it is not
necessary to reach a conclusion regarding the other grounds for
revocation alleged in the Order to Show Cause. The Deputy Administrator
hereby adopts the opinion and recommended decision of the
administrative law judge in its entirety.
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, hereby orders that DEA
Certificate of Registration, AG9685162, previously issued to Carmencita
E. Gallosa, M.D., 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 October 16, 1995.
Dated: September 8, 1995.
Stephen H. Greene,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-22921 Filed 9-14-95; 8:45 am]
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