[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 52 (Friday, March 15, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10788-10789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6222]



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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Bernardo G. Bilang, M.D.; Denial of Application

    On August 3, 1995, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause to Bernardo G. Bilang, M.D., (Respondent), of 
Sargent, Nebraska, notifying him of an opportunity to show cause as to 
why the DEA should not deny his application for a DEA Certificate of 
Registration, under 21 U.S.C. 823(f), because the Nebraska Bureau of 
Examining Boards (Medical Board) had denied his application for a state 
license to practice medicine and surgery. The order also notified the 
Respondent that, should no request for a hearing be filed within 30 
days, the hearing right will be deemed waived. The DEA received 
information that the Respondent had moved to Largo, Florida, and the 
order was mailed to that location by certified mail. The DEA received a 
receipt from the United States Postal Service showing that the order 
was delivered, and the receipt was signed and dated August 26, 1995. 
However, the DEA did not receive a reply from the Respondent to the 
order.

[[Page 10789]]

    Therefore, the Deputy Administrator concludes that the Respondent 
is deemed to have waived his hearing right. After considering the 
investigative file, the Deputy Administrator now enters his final order 
in this matter without a hearing pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.54(e) and 
1301.57.
    The Deputy Administrator finds that on April 20, 1993, the 
Respondent completed a DEA Application for Registration as a 
practitioner. However, the DEA received a copy of a letter from the 
Medical Board dated March 29, 1993, indicating that the Respondent's 
application for a license to practice medicine and surgery in Nebraska 
had been denied.
    The DEA does not have statutory authority under the Controlled 
Substances Act to register a practitioner unless that practitioner is 
authorized by the state in which he conducts business to dispense 
controlled substances. See 21 U.S.C. 802(21), 823(f) and 824(a)(3). The 
DEA has consistently so held. See Lawrence R. Alexander, M.D., 57 FR 
22256 (1992); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11919d (1988); Robert F. Witek, 
D.D.S., 52 FR 47770 (1987).
    Here, it is clear that the Respondent is not currently authorized 
to practice medicine in the State of Nebraska. From this fact, the 
Deputy Administrator infers that since the Respondent is not authorized 
to practice medicine, he also is not authorized to handle controlled 
substances. Therefore, because the Respondent lacks state authority to 
handle controlled substances, he currently is not entitled to a DEA 
registration.
    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 C.F.R. 0.100(b) and 0.104, hereby orders that the 
Respondent's application for a DEA Certificate of Registration be, and 
it hereby is, denied, This order is effective April 15, 1996.

    Dated: March 7, 1996.
Stephen H. Greene,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-6222 Filed 3-14-96; 8:45 am]
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