[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34790-34791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-13741]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration

[Docket No. 07-42]


Harriston Lee Bass, Jr., M.D.; Revocation of Registration

    On June 18, 2007, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to 
Show Cause to Harriston Lee Bass, M.D. (Respondent), of Las Vegas, 
Nevada. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's 
DEA Certificate of Registration, BB0816441, as a practitioner, and the 
denial of any pending applications to renew or modify his registration, 
on three separate grounds. Show Cause Order at 1.
    First, the Show Cause Order alleged that on several dates, 
Respondent had committed acts inconsistent with the public interest by 
prescribing various controlled substances including Percocet, a 
schedule II narcotic, as well as schedule III narcotics containing 
hydrocodone, to an undercover officer, without a legitimate medical 
purpose and outside of the usual course of professional practice. Show 
Cause Order at 1-2 (citing 21 CFR 1306.04(a)). Relatedly, the Show 
Cause Order alleged that on June 1, 2006, the State of Nevada had 
executed a search warrant at Respondent's office and residence and 
seized 10,882 dosage units of controlled substances notwithstanding 
that his state medical license authorized only the prescribing and 
administration of, and not the dispensing of, controlled substances. 
Id. at 2.
    Second, the Show Cause Order alleged that on June 16, 2006, the 
Nevada Board of Medical Examiners summarily suspended Respondent's 
state medical license based on, inter alia, his improper prescribing of 
controlled substances to nine patients who became addicted to the 
drugs, and that his prescribing ``contribut[ed] to the deaths of six of 
these patients.'' Id. The Show Cause Order thus alleged that because 
Respondent lacks authority to handle controlled substances in the State 
in which he holds his DEA

[[Page 34791]]

registration, he was not entitled to maintain his registration.\1\ Id.
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    \1\ The Show Cause Order also alleged that on June 18, 2005, 
Respondent had materially falsified his application to renew his DEA 
registration by failing to disclose a prior disciplinary action by 
the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners. Show Cause Order at 2.
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    On July 17, 2007, Respondent requested a hearing on the 
allegations; the matter was assigned to Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) 
Mary Ellen Bittner. On August 3, 2007, the Government moved for summary 
disposition and to stay the proceeding pending the resolution of its 
motion.
    The basis of the Government's motion was that the state board had 
suspended Respondent's state medical license and Respondent therefore 
lacked authority to handle controlled substances in Nevada, the State 
in which he holds his DEA registration. Motion at 1-2. As support for 
its motion, the Government attached a copy of the June 16, 2006 order 
of the Nevada Board which suspended Respondent's state license pending 
the resolution of disciplinary proceedings. Order of Summary Suspension 
at 1-3. Citing numerous agency decisions, the Government argued that 
because Respondent lacked authority under Nevada law to handle 
controlled substances, he was not entitled to maintain his DEA 
registration. Gov. Mot. at 1-2. Id. Respondent did not respond to the 
Government's motion.
    The ALJ granted the Government's motion. Noting that there was no 
dispute as to whether Respondent was without authority to handle 
controlled substances in Nevada, the ALJ applied the settled rule that 
a practitioner is not entitled to hold a DEA registration if he lacks 
authority to handle controlled substances under state law. ALJ Dec. at 
2. The ALJ thus recommended that Respondent's registration be revoked 
and forwarded the record to me for final agency action. Id. at 2-3.
    Having considered the record as a whole, I adopt the ALJ's decision 
in its entirety.\2\ I find that on June 16, 2006, the Nevada Board of 
Medical Examiners suspended Respondent's state medical license pending 
the outcome of disciplinary proceedings.\3\ Based on public information 
available at the Nevada's Board Web site, I further find that 
Respondent's state medical license remains suspended and that he is 
without authority under Nevada law to handle controlled substances.
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    \2\ Because Respondent did not deny the allegation that 
Respondent's DEA registration does not expire until July 31, 2008, 
see Show Cause Order at 1, I deem the allegation admitted and find 
that Respondent has a current registration.
    \3\ I further note that in its Order of Summary Suspension, the 
State Board found that ``Respondent's prescribing practices cannot 
be ruled out as contributing factors in the deaths of 6 patients, 5 
of whom died of overdoses.'' In re Harriston L. Bass, Jr., M.D., 
Order of Summary Suspension, at 2. (Nev. Bd. of Med. Examiners, Case 
No. 06-9455-1).
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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. 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 Nevada medical license has been indefinitely 
suspended, he is not entitled to maintain his DEA registration.

Order

    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, BB0816441, issued to Harriston L. Bass, 
M.D., be, and it hereby is, revoked. I further order that any pending 
applications of Harriston L. Bass, M.D., for renewal or modification of 
his registration be, and they hereby are, denied. This order is 
effective immediately.\4\
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    \4\ My decision that this Order be made effective immediately is 
based on the state's Board finding that ``Respondent's prescribing 
practices cannot be ruled out as contributing factors in the deaths 
of 6 patients, 5 of whom died of overdoses.'' Order of Summary 
Suspension, at 2; see also 21 CFR 1316.67.

    Dated: June 11, 2008.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
 [FR Doc. E8-13741 Filed 6-17-08; 8:45 am]
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