[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71196-71198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30255]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Christopher E. Castle, M.D., Revocation of Registration

    On March 14, 2002, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of

[[Page 71197]]

Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause, Immediate Suspension of Registration, to 
Christopher E. Castle, M.D. (Dr. Castle) of Seymour, Tennessee, 
notifying him of an opportunity to show cause as to why DEA should not 
revoke his DEA Certificate of Registration, BC1157076 under 21 U.S.C. 
824(a), and deny any pending applications for renewal or modification 
of that registration. The order also notified Dr. Castle that should no 
request for a hearing be filed within 30 days, his hearing right would 
be deemed waived.
    The Order to Show Cause was sent by certified mail to Dr. Castle at 
his registered location in Seymour, Tennessee. It was also delivered by 
DEA Investigators to Dr. Castle and his legal counsel on March 19, 
2002, at the Blount County Jail in Maryville, Tennessee, where Dr. 
Castle was incarcerated.
    DEA has not received a request for hearing or any other reply from 
Dr. Castle or anyone purporting to represent him in this matter. 
Therefore, the Deputy Administrator, finding that (1) 30 days have 
passed since the receipt of the Order to Show Cause, and (2) no request 
for a hearing having been received, concludes that Dr. Castle is deemed 
to have waived his hearing right. After considering material from the 
investigative file in this matter, the Deputy Administrator now enters 
his final order without a hearing pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(d) and (e) 
and 1301.46.
    On November 4, 1987, Dr. Castle obtained DEA Certificate of 
Registration Number BC1157076, as a practitioner in Schedules II 
through V. That registration remained valid until August 31, 2002. 
Pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.36(i), the Deputy Administrator will extend the 
registration for purposes of this revocation proceeding. On June 3, 
2001, the Sevierville (Tennessee) Sheriff's Department arrested an 
individual referred herein as ``RS,'' and charged him with various 
offenses related to the possession of controlled substances with intent 
to distribute. At the time of his arrest, ``RS'' was in possession of 
controlled substances from prescriptions that were issued by Dr. 
Castle. During a subsequent interview of ``RS'' by the Sevierville 
Sheriff's Department he informed law enforcement authorities that 
during his association with Dr. Castle, and in exchange for controlled 
substance prescriptions, he along with his spouse provided personal 
services to Dr. Castle, including installation of cabinets and repair 
of a garage door. ``RS'' further informed law enforcement authorities 
that on numerous occasions, he and his spouse were able to obtain from 
Dr. Castle prescriptions for any controlled substance they desired, in 
exchange for cash. Included among the drugs that Dr. Castle authorized 
for the couple in exchange for cash were Adderall and OxyContin, both 
highly abused Schedule II controlled substances. A subsequent 
investigation by DEA revealed that ``RS'' sold controlled substances to 
other individuals from prescriptions issued by Dr. Castle.
    ``RS'' also informed law enforcement authorities that while 
visiting Dr. Castle's home on a prior occasion, he observed several of 
Dr. Castle's blank prescription pads unsecured in various parts of Dr. 
Castle's home, as well as prescriptions vials for controlled substances 
in the names of other individuals. ``RS'' also recounted one instance 
where Dr. Castle provided to him OxyContin tablets for his personal 
use, and for controlled substances in the names of other individuals. 
``RS''also recounted one instance where Dr. Castle provided to him 
OxyContin tablets for his personal use, and for no legitimate medical 
purpose. ``RS'' further informed law enforcement authorities that he 
informed Dr. Castle of his June 3, 2001 arrest on drug possession 
charges. Nevertheless, a subsequent review by DEA of prescription 
information regarding ``RS'' revealed that between January and August 
2001, Dr. Castle issued prescriptions totaling 900 dosage units of 
OxyContin 40mg., and 90 dosage units of OxyContin 80mg. Dr. Castle 
continued issuing controlled substance prescriptions for ``RS'' up 
until October 3, 2001, despite Dr. Castle's knowledge of his drug 
arrest.
    In response to the above information, in August 2001, the Tennessee 
Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the United States Department of Health 
and Human Services (HHS), and the Sevierville Sheriff's Department 
initiated investigation of Dr. Castle's medical practice. During a 
surveillance of Dr. Castle's office, law enforcement agents observed a 
high volume of persons entering in, and exiting the office for the 
purpose of obtaining prescriptions. These office visits typically 
lasted five minutes or less, and some of these individuals had been 
identified by local law enforcement agents as having prior drug related 
convictions and/or under investigation for illegal drug violations.
    On October 3, 2001, the State of Tennessee, Department of Health 
(Department of Health) issued to Dr. Castle a Notice of Charges and 
Memorandum of Assessment of Civil Penalty. In the Notice of Charges, 
the Department of Health alleged, among other things, that with respect 
to its review of Dr. Castle's treatment of eleven patients, Dr. Castle 
issued prescriptions for controlled substances months before actually 
examining a patient, and that Dr. Castle dispensed, prescribed, or 
otherwise distributed controlled substances outside of Dr. Castle's 
professional practice, and not in good faith to relieve pain or 
suffering. Specifically, the Department of Health alleged Dr. Castle's 
improper prescribing with respect to patients referred herein as ``DE'' 
and his spouse ``JE.''
    The Notice of Charges further proposed that Dr. Castle pay civil 
penalties in the amount of $16,500, and that the State Board of 
Medicine make a determination as to whether Dr. Castle's medical 
license be suspended, revoked or otherwise disciplined. That matter is 
currently pending resolution.
    On October 19, 2001, a search warrant was executed at Dr. Castle's 
office by agents from TBI, HHS, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the 
Sevierville County Drug Task Force. During the execution of the 
warrant, agents seized several patient files, and interviewed an 
employee of Dr. Castle's office. Dr. Castle's employee confirmed that 
several of Dr. Castle's patients obtained controlled substance 
prescriptions in exchange for cash.
    On October 19, 2001, Special Agents from HHS, as well as TBI and 
DEA investigators interviewed a former medical assistant/laboratory 
technician employed by Dr. Castle's office. The individual informed law 
enforcement personnel that one occasion, when Dr. Castle was absent 
from his office in August 2001, Dr. Castle authorized his staff to fill 
in names, dates, and quantities of controlled substances prescribed on 
pre-signed prescriptions. These prescriptions were not dated on, or 
signed on the day when issued as required by 21 CFR 1306.05.
    On November 14, 2001, Special Agents from HHS, TBI and the 
Tennessee Office of Inspector General interviewed another individual 
herein referred to as ``CLF,'' a former patient as well as a personal 
acquaintance of Dr. Castle. ``CLF'' informed law enforcement personnel 
that over a period of several months, Dr. Castle routinely prescribed 
Adderall in ``CLF's'' name, and had her return portions of the filled 
prescription to Dr. Castle for his personal use. ``CLF'' further 
informed that Dr. Castle never performed a physical examination before 
writing prescriptions in her name, and that Dr. Castle frequently

[[Page 71198]]

issued prescriptions while dining with her in a local restaurant.
    In December 2001, Dr. Castle was named as a defendant in a 
$2,500,000 civil lawsuit filed in Sevier County Circuit Court by a 
former employee of Dr. Castle's medical practice. The suit alleged in 
part that Dr. Castle provided pain medications to his former employee 
when she was sixteen years old, prescribed pain medications while she 
was pregnant, and contributed to her addiction until the time she left 
Dr. Castle's employ at the age of twenty-one. The suit further alleges 
that Dr. Castle's actions contributed to the December 6, 2000, overdose 
on pain medications by the employee, which eventually led her to seek 
detoxification the following week. That matter is also pending 
resolution.
    On January 10, 2002, DEA investigators conducted surveys of three 
pharmacies where several of Dr. Castle's patients had prescriptions 
filled: the pharmacies were Jabo's Pharmacy located in Newport, 
Tennessee; Murphy's Sav-Mor Pharmacy located in Jefferson City, 
Tennessee; and Mugford's Pharmacy located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 
surveys revealed, that following the issuance to Dr. Castle of the 
Notice of Charges, as well as the execution of a search warrant at Dr. 
Castle's office, Dr. Castle continued to issue numerous Schedule II 
through IV controlled substance prescriptions for ``DE'' and ``JE.'' As 
noted above in paragraph six, the Department of Health alleged Dr. 
Castle's improper prescribing with respect to patients ``DE'' and his 
spouse ``JE.'' DEA's investigation revealed that between October 15, 
2001 to January 12, 2002, these individuals had their prescriptions 
filled at different pharmacies including each of the above pharmacies.
    DEA's review of prescriptions authorized by Dr. Castle, and 
obtained from Murphy's Sav-Mor Pharmacy revealed a Dandridge, Tennessee 
home address for ``DE'' and ``JE.'' Yet, a review of written 
prescriptions filled by ``DE'' and ``JE'' at Mugford's Pharmacy 
revealed a Knoxville, Tennessee home address for the couple. These 
addresses were not included on the prescriptions that were issued by 
Dr. Castle, and were added to the prescriptions by someone other than 
Dr. Castle. A subsequent investigation by DEA revealed that Dr. Castle 
failed to list addresses on prescriptions issued to ``DE'' and ``JE,'' 
as well as numerous prescriptions issued to other patients, as required 
by 21 CFR 1306.05(a).
    On February 11, 2002, Special Agents from HHS, TBI and the 
Tennessee Office of Inspector General interviewed an individual herein 
referred to as ``JS.'' ``JS'' informed law enforcement officials that 
he had a long-term history of narcotic abuse and had purchased 
OxyContin from ``RS'' (referenced in paragraphs two through four 
above). ``JS'' further informed that Dr. Castle wrote prescriptions for 
OxyContin and Adderall for him in the name of the wife of ``JS.'' 
``JS'' further informed law enforcement personnel that his wife had 
never been to Dr. Castle's office, and was not aware that Dr. Castle 
issued prescriptions in her name for ``JS.'' ``JS'' also informed that 
Dr. Castle created fictitious patient information in the name of his 
wife. Law enforcement personnel from the above agencies later conducted 
an interview of the wife of ``JS'' and she confirmed that she had never 
received any controlled substance prescriptions from Dr. Castle, nor 
had she ever visited Dr. Castle's office.
    The investigation of Dr. Castle's practice also revealed that on or 
around September 6, 2001, ``JS'' requested that Dr. Castle send to him 
a prescription for OxyContin in his wife's name. Several days later, 
``JS'' found the requested prescription in his mail box in his wife's 
name, which had been mailed from Dr. Castle's office and signed by Dr. 
Castle. DEA's investigation further revealed that between November and 
December 2001, Dr. Castle issued several Schedule II controlled 
substance prescriptions for ``JS'' in his wife's name.
    On February 21, 2002, the Sevier County Street Crimes Unit executed 
a search warrant at Dr. Castle's medical practice. During the execution 
of the warrant, law enforcement officers recovered from Dr. Castle's 
person several syringes, including some that had been used. The 
syringes contained Adderall.
    In November 2001, Dr. Castle was indicted in the United States 
District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, on one count of 
possession of child pornography. However, after posting a $50,000 bond, 
Dr. Castle was granted pretrial release on November 7, 2001. As a 
condition of Dr. Castle's release, Dr. Castle was ordered not to 
download child pornography from Dr. Castle's personal computer, carry a 
firearm, or engage in the personal use of drugs. Nevertheless, an 
investigation by the Tennessee Office of Inspector General revealed 
that Dr. Castle continued to download child pornography in violation of 
a condition set by Dr. Castle's pretrial release. As a result, on 
February 26, 2002, the court ordered the revocation of Dr. Castle's 
bond, and further ordered Dr. Castle detained until Dr. Castle's May 7, 
2002, trial on a charge of possession of child pornography.
    In view of the foregoing, and pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(d), I find 
that Christopher E. Castle, M.D. has been responsible for the diversion 
of large quantities of controlled substances into other than legitimate 
medical channels. It is my conclusion that Dr. Castle has committed 
such acts as would render his continued registration inconsistent with 
the public interest. 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(4). 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 
BC1157076, issued to Christopher E. Castle, M.D. be, and it hereby is, 
revoked. The Deputy Administrator further orders that any pending 
applications for renewal or modifications of such registration be, and 
they hereby are, denied. This order is effective December 30, 2002.

    Dated: November 12, 2002.
John B. Brown, III,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-30255 Filed 11-27-02; 8:45 am]
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