[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 101 (Thursday, May 25, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30167-30168]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-4837]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Kevin Dean Brockbank, M.D.; Revocation of Registration

    On October 14, 2004, the Deputy Administrator of the Drug 
Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued an Order to Show Cause and 
Immediate Suspension of Registration to Kevin Dean Brockbank, M.D. (Dr. 
Brockbank) of Lakeside, Arizona. Dr. Brockbank was notified of an 
opportunity to show cause as to why DEA should not revoke his DEA 
Certificate of Registration, AB2053027, as a practitioner, and deny any 
pending applications for renewal or modification of that registration 
pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 823(f) and 824(a)(4) on the basis that his 
continued registration would be inconsistent with the public interest. 
Dr. Brockbank was further notified that pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(d), 
his DEA registration was being immediately suspended as an imminent 
danger to the public health and safety.
    The Order to Show Cause and Immediate Suspension of Registration 
alleged, in sum, that Dr. Brockbank was issuing prescriptions for large 
amounts of controlled substances to individuals without physical 
examinations, testing or evaluations consistent with a legitimate 
doctor-patient relationship. These prescriptions, which included 
OxyContin and hydrocodone, were not issued for legitimate medical 
purposes or in the usual course of professional treatment, thus 
violating 21 CFR 1306.04 and 21 U.S.C. 841(a). It was also alleged that 
over a six month period in 2004, on six occasions Dr. Brockbank issued 
prescriptions under such circumstances to local law enforcement 
officers posing undercover as patients.
    The Order to Show Cause and Immediate Suspension of Registration 
alleged that over a 13 month period, Dr. Brockbank prescribed an 
estimated 690,000 dosage units of controlled substances to patients and 
that local pharmacies were refusing to fill or drastically reducing the 
ordered amounts of medication he was prescribing. As a result, 
individuals were traveling long distances to fill their prescriptions 
at out-of-area pharmacies. It was also alleged that one individual died 
of an accidental overdose of Schedule II controlled substances, which 
had been excessively prescribed by Dr. Brockbank to a friend of the 
victim and obtained by the decedent while visiting. Finally, it was 
alleged Dr. Brockbank had sexually assaulted a female patient during a 
home visit after administering her a Schedule II controlled substance.
    According to the investigative file, the Order to Show Cause and 
Immediate Suspension of Registration was personally served on Dr. 
Brockbank by a DEA Diversion Investigator on October 26, 2004. More 
than thirty days have passed since service of the Order to Show Cause 
and Immediate Suspension of Registration and DEA has not received a 
request for hearing or any other reply from Dr. Brockbank or anyone 
purporting to represent him in this matter.
    Therefore, the Deputy Administrator of DEA, finding that (1) thirty 
days having passed since the delivery of the Order to Show Cause and 
Immediate Suspension of Registration to Dr. Brockbank, and (2) no 
request for hearing having been received, concludes that Dr. Brockbank 
is deemed to have waived his hearing right. See David W. Linder, 67 FR 
12,579 (2002). After considering material from the investigation file 
in this matter, the Deputy Administrator now enters her final order 
without a hearing pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(d) and (e) and 1301.46.
    The Deputy Administrator finds that Dr. Brockbank is currently 
registered with DEA as a practitioner under DEA Certificate of 
Registration AB2053027. According to information in the investigative 
file, on October 18, 2004, Dr. Brockbank entered into a Consent 
Agreement for Surrender of Active License (Consent Agreement) with the 
Arizona Medical Board. In that Consent Agreement Dr. Brockbank admitted 
prescribing narcotic medications to two female patients without 
obtaining and recording detailed patient and family histories, 
performing minimum physical examinations or informing the individuals 
of the risks and benefits of taking the controlled medications. These 
actions were found to be outside the standard of care for a physician 
licensed to practice in Arizona. Dr. Brockbank also admitted making 
``house calls'' to two female patients, where he injected them with 
controlled substances and then made sexual comments and advances toward 
them.
    The Arizona Board concluded Dr. Brockbank had engaged in 
unprofessional conduct under state law

[[Page 30168]]

and directed him to immediately surrender his license to practice 
medicine. There is no evidence before the Deputy Administrator that the 
Consent Agreement has been modified, lifted or stayed or that Dr. 
Brockbank's Arizona medical license has been renewed or reinstated.
    Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Deputy Administrator may 
revoke a DEA Certificate of Registration if she finds the registrant 
has had his state license revoked and is no longer authorized to 
dispense controlled substances in the jurisdiction of registration. 
Alternatively, revocation is authorized if the registrant has committed 
such acts as would render his registration contrary to the public 
interest, as determined by factors listed in 21 U.S.C. 823(f). See 
Thomas B. Pelkowski, D.D.S., 57 FR 28,538 (1992).
    Nevertheless, despite Dr. Brockbank's egregious prescribing 
activities, his grossly inappropriate conduct with female patients and 
the public interest factors that are implemented by such unprofessional 
and unlawful conduct, his lack of state authorization to handle 
controlled substances is dispositive of this matter.
    DEA does not have statutory authority under the Controlled 
Substances Act to issue or maintain a registration if the applicant or 
registrant is without state authority to handle controlled substances 
in the state in which he conducts business. See 21 U.S.C. 802(21), 
823(f) and 824(a)(3). This prerequisite has been consistently upheld. 
See Rory Patrick Doyle, M.D., 69 FR 11,655 (2004); Dominick A. Ricci, 
M.D., 58 FR 51,104 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11,919 (1988).
    Here, it is clear Dr. Brockbank surrendered his medical license and 
it is reasonable to infer that he is currently not authorized to handle 
controlled substances in Arizona and is therefore not entitled to a DEA 
registration in that state. As a result of the finding that Dr. 
Brockbank lacks any state authorization to handle controlled 
substances, the Deputy Administrator concludes it is unnecessary to 
address further whether his DEA registration should be revoked based 
upon the public interest grounds asserted in the Order to Show Cause 
and Immediate Suspension of Registration. See Gilbert C. Aragon, Jr., 
D.O., 69 FR 58,536 (2004); Samuel Silas Jackson, D.D.S., 67 FR 65,145 
(2002); Nathaniel-Aikens-Afful, M.D., 62 FR 16,871 (1997); Sam F. 
Moore, D.V.M., 58 FR 14,428 (1993).
    Accordingly, the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, pursuant to the authority vested in her by 21 U.S.C. 
823 and 824 and 28 CFR 0.100(b) and 0.104, hereby orders that DEA 
Certificate of Registration, AB2053027, issued to Kevin Dean Brockbank, 
M.D., be, and it hereby is, revoked. The Deputy Administrator further 
orders that any pending applications for renewal or modification of 
such registration be, and they hereby are, denied. This order is 
effective June 26, 2006.

    Dated: May 5, 2006.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 06-4837 Filed 5-24-06; 8:45am]
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