[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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