[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 184 (Monday, September 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54296-54297]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-18776]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Brenton D. Glisson, 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 Brenton D. Glisson, M.D. (Respondent), of Seneca, South 
Carolina. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's 
DEA Certificate of Registration, BG4535641, as a practitioner, on the 
ground that in August 2005, the South Carolina Bureau of Drug Control 
suspended his State controlled substances registration and that he was 
without authority to handle controlled substances in the State in which 
he practiced medicine. Show Cause Order at 1 (citing 21 U.S.C. 
824(a)(2)). The Show Cause Order also advised Respondent of his right 
to a hearing and the procedures for requesting a hearing and/or 
submitting a written statement. Show Cause Order at 1-2.
    On June 1, 2006, the Show Cause Order was served on Respondent by 
certified mail, return receipt requested. On June 21, 2006, Respondent 
submitted a letter in which he admitted that his South Carolina medical 
license had been revoked based on ``false allegations of sexual 
misconduct with a patient.'' Respondent further stated that he was ``in 
the process of appealing [the] decision,'' and that the ``case [was] 
going before an Administrative Judge.'' Respondent also stated that he 
would contact the Agency upon the ``renewal'' of his license and 
requested that the DEA proceeding be held ``off till then.''
    Upon receipt of the letter, the matter was assigned to 
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Gail Randall. On July 11, 2006, the ALJ 
wrote to Respondent stating that she could not tell from his letter 
whether he was requesting a hearing. The ALJ thus instructed Respondent 
that if he was ``seeking a hearing, you must clearly tell me so in a 
letter filed with my office.'' The ALJ also advised Respondent that if 
his initial letter was intended to request a hearing, his ``request may 
already be untimely.'' Finally, the ALJ informed Respondent that if he 
failed to reply by July 25, 2006, he would be deemed to have waived his 
right to a hearing. Respondent did not comply.
    On July 11, 2006, the Government moved for summary disposition on 
the ground that Respondent was no longer authorized under South 
Carolina law to handle controlled substances. Motion for Summary Disp. 
at 1-2. As support for its motion, the Government attached a copy of 
the South Carolina State Board of Medical Examiners' July 16, 2005, 
Order of Temporary Suspension of Respondent's medical license. The 
Government also attached a copy of the South Carolina Bureau of Drug 
Control's Notice of Indefinite Suspension of Controlled Substances 
Registration.
    The ALJ did not, however, rule on the Government's motion. Instead, 
on August 7, 2006, the ALJ issued an order sua sponte terminating the 
proceeding on the ground that Respondent had waived his right to a 
hearing.
    On June 7, 2007, the case file was forwarded to my office for final 
agency action. Based on (1) Respondent's failure to expressly request a 
hearing in his June 2006 letter, and (2) his failure to respond to the 
ALJ's July 11, 2006 letter, I conclude that he has waived his right to 
a hearing. 21 CFR 1301.43(a) & (d). I therefore enter this Final Order 
without a hearing based on relevant material in the investigative file. 
Id. 1301.43(e). I make the following findings.

Findings

    Respondent is the holder of DEA Certificate of Registration, 
BG4535641, which authorizes him to handle controlled substances as a 
practitioner at the registered location of 1765 Blue Ridge Blvd., 
Seneca, South Carolina. Respondent's registration does not expire until 
September 30, 2007.
    On July 16, 2005, the South Carolina State Board of Medical 
Examiners ordered that Respondent's medical license be temporarily 
suspended. Thereafter, on August 19, 2005, the Bureau of Drug Control, 
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, 
suspended Respondent's South Carolina Controlled Substances 
Registration.\1\
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    \1\ According to the notice of suspension, Respondent's South 
Carolina Controlled Substances Registration is ``conditioned upon 
[his] license to practice the profession of Medicine with this 
State.'' Notice of Indefinite Suspension of Controlled Substances 
Registration at 1.
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    On June 7, 2006, following a hearing, the South Carolina Board 
found that Respondent had violated various State laws and regulations 
and issued a final order revoking his State medical license. There is 
no evidence in the investigative file indicating that the Board's final 
order has been stayed or set aside.

Discussion

    Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a practitioner must be 
currently authorized to handle controlled

[[Page 54297]]

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. 
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 whose state license has been suspended or 
revoked. 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'').
    As found above, on June 7, 2006, the South Carolina Board of 
Medical Examiners issued a final order revoking Respondent's medical 
license and the South Carolina Bureau of Drug Control has suspended his 
State controlled substances registration. Respondent has submitted no 
evidence to this Agency establishing that the State orders have been 
stayed or set aside. Therefore, it is clear that Respondent lacks 
authority to handle controlled substances in South Carolina, the State 
in which he is registered with DEA. Respondent is therefore not 
entitled to maintain his Federal registration.\2\
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    \2\ In his letter responding to the Show Cause Order, Respondent 
asserted that the revocation of his state medical license was based 
on ``false allegations of sexual misconduct with a patient.'' DEA 
precedents hold, however, ``that a registrant can not collaterally 
attack the results of a state criminal or administrative proceeding 
in a proceeding under section 304 of the CSA.'' Sunil Bhasin, M.D., 
72 FR 5082, 5083 (2007); see also Shahid Musud Siddiqui, 61 FR 
14818, 14818-19 (1996); Robert A. Leslie, 60 FR 14004, 14005 (1995). 
Accordingly, I do not consider Respondent's defense.
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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, BG4535641, issued to Brenton D. 
Glisson, 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 October 24, 
2007.

    Dated: September 14, 2007.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
 [FR Doc. E7-18776 Filed 9-21-07; 8:45 am]
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