[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71955-71956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24606]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration

[Docket No. 06-44]


Richard Carino, M.D.; Revocation of Registration

    On December 23, 2005, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to 
Show Cause to Richard Carino, M.D. (Respondent), of Port Richey, 
Florida. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's 
DEA Certificates of Registration, BC5048043 and BC7752024, as a 
practitioner, on the ground that he had committed acts which rendered 
his registration ``inconsistent with the public interest.'' Show Cause 
Order at 1 (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f) and 824(a)(4)).
    More specifically, the Show Cause Order alleged that between 
September 2003 and July 2004, Respondent, ``while working for 
iPharmacy.MD,'' had issued between ``100 to 2000 prescriptions per 
month over the internet, most'' of which were for controlled 
substances. Id. at 5. The Show Cause Order alleged that Respondent 
``never saw the customers and * * * had no prior doctor-patient 
relationship with them,'' that he did not ``conduct physical 
examinations of the customers and [that he] did not create or maintain 
patient records.'' Id. The Show Cause Order further alleged that 
``[t]he only information [Respondent] reviewed prior to issuing a 
prescription was a questionnaire completed by the customer, and [that 
he] never consulted with the customer's primary care physician or 
obtained prior medical records.'' Id. at 5-6. The Show Cause Order thus 
alleged that ``[t]he controlled substance prescriptions issued by 
[Respondent] over the internet were not

[[Page 71956]]

issued in the usual course of [his] professional practice, or for a 
legitimate medical purpose, in violation of 21 CFR 1306.04 and 21 
U.S.C. 841(a).'' Id. at 5.
    Respondent timely requested a hearing on the allegations. The 
matter was assigned to Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Mary Ellen 
Bittner, who conducted a hearing on March 27, 2007, in Tampa, Florida.
    On July 16, 2007, while the ALJ's decision was still pending, the 
Government moved for summary disposition. The basis of the motion was 
that on April 17, 2007, the Florida Board of Medicine had issued a 
final order which indefinitely suspended Respondent's state medical 
license and that because Respondent was no longer authorized to handle 
controlled substances under state law, he was not entitled to hold a 
DEA registration. Gov. Mot. for Summ. Disp. at 2. The Government 
supported its motion with a copy of the Florida Board's order. See id. 
at Attachment.
    In his response to the motion, Respondent stated that he ``does 
not, and cannot, dispute [the] assertion'' that he ``is no longer 
licensed to practice medicine in the State of Florida.'' Respondent's 
Resp. at 1. Respondent also acknowledged that ``the Government's motion 
* * * is well taken.'' Id.
    On August 7, 2007, the ALJ issued her recommended decision. Finding 
that Respondent had ``concede[d] that he is without state authority * * 
* to handle controlled substances * * * in Florida,'' the ALJ concluded 
that there were no material facts in dispute. ALJ Dec. at 3. Noting 
that this Agency has consistently held that a practitioner ``must be 
currently authorized to dispense controlled substances `in the course 
of professional practice,' '' in order to hold a DEA registration, the 
ALJ granted the Government's motion and recommended that Respondent's 
registration be revoked. ALJ at 2-3 (quoting 21 U.S.C. 802(21)). The 
ALJ then forwarded the record to me for final agency action.
    Having considered the record in this matter, I adopt the ALJ's 
recommended decision in its entirety. I find that although Respondent's 
registrations expired on August 31, 2005, Respondent submitted timely 
renewal applications for each registration and therefore, his 
registrations remain in effect pending the issuance of this Final 
Order. See 5 U.S.C. 558(c); GX 1. I also find that effective on April 
17, 2007, the Florida Board of Medicine issued a final order which 
indefinitely suspended Respondent's medical license. See Gov. Mot. for 
Summ. Disp., Attachment at 1-3. I therefore further find that 
Respondent is without authority under Florida law to dispense or 
otherwise handle controlled substances in the course of medical 
practice.
    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. Sec.  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.''). As these provisions make plain, 
possessing authority to dispense a controlled substance under the laws 
of the State in which a physician practices medicine is an essential 
condition for holding a DEA registration.
    Accordingly, DEA has repeatedly held 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''). Because Respondent's Florida medical license has been 
indefinitely suspended, he is not entitled to maintain his DEA 
registrations.

Order

    Pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(f) and 
824(a), as well as 28 CFR 0.100(b) & 0.104, I hereby order that DEA 
Certificates of Registration, BC5048043 and BC7752024, issued to 
Richard Carino, M.D., be, and they hereby are, revoked. I further order 
that the pending applications of Richard Carino, M.D., for renewal or 
modification of each registration be, and they hereby are, denied. This 
order is effective January 18, 2008.

    Dated: December 7, 2007.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-24606 Filed 12-18-07; 8:45 am]
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