[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 11, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18274-18275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6761]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration

[Docket No. 06-58]


Piyush V. Patel, M.D.; Revocation of Registration

    On May 9, 2006, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to 
Show Cause to Piyush V. Patel, M.D. (Respondent) of Midland, Texas. The 
Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's DEA 
Certificate of Registration, AP1614800, as a practitioner, on the 
ground that Respondent's license to practice medicine in the State of 
Texas had been revoked, and that Respondent was therefore ``without 
authority to handle controlled substances in Texas, the State in which 
[he] practices.'' Show Cause Order at 1. The Show Cause Order also 
informed Respondent of his right to request a hearing.
    Respondent, acting pro se, filed a timely request for a hearing; 
the matter was assigned to Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Mary Ellen 
Bittner. In that request, Respondent stated that he was currently 
incarcerated and requested that the hearing be delayed until after his 
release on April 7, 2007. Respondent also indicated that he was not 
currently licensed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.
    On June 21, 2006, the Government moved for summary disposition on 
the ground that Respondent was ``not currently authorized to engage in 
the active practice of medicine or to handle controlled substances in 
Texas.'' Mot. for Summary Disp. at 2. In support of its motion, the 
Government attached an ``Agreed Order'' (dated August 26, 2005) which 
Respondent had entered into with the Texas State Board of Medical

[[Page 18275]]

Examiners. Under the order, Respondent's Texas medical license was 
revoked.
    Thereafter, on July 13, 2006, the ALJ denied Respondent's request 
to stay the hearing until after his release from prison. ALJ Dec. at 2. 
The ALJ further ordered that Respondent file a response to the 
Government's motion by August 3, 2006. Respondent, however, failed to 
do so.
    Thereafter, the ALJ granted the Government's motion. The ALJ noted 
that Respondent ``acknowledges that his license to practice medicine in 
Texas is revoked, and will remain revoked at least until his release 
from prison on April 7, 2007.'' Id. As this material fact was 
undisputed, the ALJ held that because ``Respondent lacks state 
authority, he is not entitled to a DEA registration in Texas,'' and 
therefore recommended that Respondent's registration be revoked. Id. at 
2-3. The ALJ then forwarded the record to me for final agency action.
    Having considered the record as a whole, I adopt the ALJ's 
recommendation that Respondent's registration be revoked. But in doing 
so, I decline to adopt the ALJ's reasoning to the extent it relies 
solely on the Texas State Board of Medical Examiner's revocation of 
Respondent's medical license. Under Texas law, a practitioner must 
obtain a separate state registration to dispense a controlled 
substance. Texas Health & Safety Code Sec.  481.061. The record, 
however, contains no evidence regarding the status of Respondent's 
state registration.
    Therefore, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 556(e), I take official 
notice of the fact that according to the Texas Department of Public 
Safety's Controlled Substances Registration verification search page, 
Respondent is not currently registered to dispense controlled 
substances in the State.\1\
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    \1\ Under the Administrative Procedure Act, ``[a]gencies may 
take official notice of facts at any stage in a proceeding--even in 
the final decision.'' Attorney General's Manual on the 
Administrative Procedure Act 80 (1946) ( Wm. W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc., 
reprint 1979). In accordance with the Act, Respondent may ``show to 
the contrary'' by filing a request for reconsideration which 
includes supporting documentation within fifteen days of receipt of 
this order.
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    Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a practitioner must be 
currently authorized to handle controlled substances in ``the 
jurisdiction in which he practices'' in order to maintain a DEA 
registration. See 21 U.S.C. 802(21) (``[t]he term `practitioner' means 
a physician * * * licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by * * 
* the jurisdiction in which he practices * * * to distribute, dispense, 
[or] administer * * * a controlled substance in the course of 
professional practice''). See also id. section 823(f) (``The Attorney 
General shall register practitioners * * * if the applicant is 
authorized to dispense * * * controlled substances under the laws of 
the State in which he practices.''). DEA has held repeatedly that the 
CSA requires the revocation of a registration issued to a practitioner 
who no longer possesses authority under state law to handle controlled 
substances. See Sheran Arden Yeates, 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); 
Dominick A. Ricci, 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, 53 FR 11919, 
11920 (1988). See also 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3) (authorizing the revocation 
of a registration ``upon a finding that the registrant * * * has had 
his State license or registration suspended [or] revoked * * * and is 
no longer authorized by State law to engage in the * * * distribution 
[or] dispensing of controlled substances''). Therefore, Respondent's 
DEA registration must be revoked.\2\
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    \2\ The expiration date of Respondent's DEA registration is 
March 31, 2008.
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Order

    Accordingly, pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 
823(f) & 824(a), as well as 28 CFR 0.100(b) & 0.104, I hereby order 
that DEA Certificate of Registration, AP1614800, issued to Piyush V. 
Patel, M.D., be, and it hereby is, revoked. I further order that any 
pending applications for renewal or modification of such registration 
be, and they hereby are, denied. This order is effective May 11, 2007.

    Dated: March 30, 2007.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
 [FR Doc. E7-6761 Filed 4-10-07; 8:45 am]
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