[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 57 (Friday, March 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 11871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6978]



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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[Docket No. 94-43]


Ekambaram Parameswaran, M.D.; Denial of Application

    On March 31, 1994, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause to Ekambaram Parameswaran, M.D. (Respondent) of 
Inez, Kentucky, notifying him of an opportunity to show cause as to why 
DEA should not deny his application for registration as a practitioner 
under 21 U.S.C. 825(f), as being inconsistent with the public interest.
    The Respondent filed a timely request for a hearing, and the matter 
was docketed before Administrative Law Judge Paul A. Tenney. After 
numerous delays at the request of the Respondent, the hearing was 
scheduled to commence on September 26, 1995. However, prior to that 
date, the Government filed a Motion for Summary Disposition, noting 
that the Respondent's license to practice medicine had been revoked by 
the Kentucky State Board of Medical Licensure (Medical Board) by final 
order dated July 20, 1995, a copy of which was attached to the motion. 
The Respondent was afforded an opportunity to respond to the 
Government's motion, on or before August 16, 1995, but no response was 
filed. On August 29, 1995, Judge Tenney issued his Conclusions of Law 
and Recommended Ruling, in which he found that the Respondent lacked 
authorization to handle controlled substance in Kentucky, granted the 
Government's Motion for Summary Disposition, and recommended that the 
Respondent's application of a DEA Certificate of Registration be 
denied. Neither party filed exceptions to his decision, and on 
September 28, 1995, Judge Tenney transmitted the record of these 
proceedings and his opinion to the Deputy Administrator.
    The Deputy Administrator has considered the record in its entirety, 
and pursuant to 21 CFR 1316.67, hereby issues his final order based 
upon findings of fact and conclusions of law as hereinafter set forth. 
The Deputy Administrator adopts, in full, the decision of the 
Administrative Law Judge.
    Specifically, the Deputy Administrator finds that by final order 
dated July 20, 1995, the Medical Board revoked the Respondent's license 
to practice medicine. From this fact, Judge Tenney inferred that since 
the Respondent was not authorized to practice medicine, he also was not 
authorized to handle controlled substances. The Deputy Administrator 
agrees with Judge Tenney's inference, and he also notes that the 
Respondent has not filed an exception to this portion of his decision.
    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), 832(f), and 824(a)(3). The prerequisite has been 
consistently upheld. See Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 51,104 (1993); 
James H. Nickens, M.D., 57 FR 59,847 (1992); Roy E. Hardman, M.D. 57 FR 
49,195 (1992); Myong S. Yi, M.D., 54 FR 30,618 (1989); Bobby Watts, 
M.D., 53 FR 11,919 (1988). Therefore, because the Respondent lacks 
state authority to handle controlled substances, he currently is not 
entitled to a DEA registration.
    Judge Tenney also properly granted the Government's motion for 
summary disposition. Here, the parties did not dispute that the 
Respondent was unauthorized to handle controlled substances in 
Kentucky, the state in which he proposed to conduct his practice. 
Therefore, it is well-settled that when no question of fact is 
involved, a plenary, adversary administrative proceeding involving 
evidence and cross-examination of witnesses is not obligatory. See 
Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR at 51,104 (finding it well settled that 
where there is no question of material fact involved, a plenary, 
adversarial administrative hearing was not required); see also Phillip 
E. Kirk, M.D., 48 FR 32,887 (1983), aff'd sub nom Kirk V. Mullen, 749 
F.2d 297 (6th Cir. 1984); Alfred Tennyson Smurthwaite, M.D., 43 FR 
11,873 (1978); NLRB v. International Association of Bridge, Structural 
and Ornamental Ironworkers, AFL-CIO, 549 F.2d 634 (9th Cir. 1977).
    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 the 
Respondent's application for a DEA Certificate of Registration be, and 
it hereby is, denied. This order is effective April 22, 1996.

    Dated: March 18, 1996.
Stephen H. Greene,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-6978 Filed 3-21-96; 8:45 am]
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