[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 83 (Friday, May 1, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20346-20347]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10029]


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 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration

[Docket No. 09-15]


Roy Chi Lung, M.D.; Revocation of Registration

    On October 22, 2008, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to 
Show Cause to Roy C. Lung, M.D. (Respondent), of Fountain Valley, 
California. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of 
Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration, BL4971051, as a 
practitioner, and the denial of any pending applications to renew or 
modify his registration, on the grounds that Respondent is ``not 
authorized to handle controlled substances in the state of 
California,'' and that he falsified his most recent application for 
renewal of his DEA registration. Show Cause Order at 1.
    More specifically, the Show Cause Order alleged that effective 
January 30, 2008, the Medical Board of California suspended 
Respondent's license to practice medicine. Id. The Show Cause Order 
thus alleged that Respondent is ``currently without authority to handle 
controlled substances in the State of California, the State in which'' 
Respondent is registered with DEA. Id. The Show Cause Order also 
alleged that on April 1, 2008, Respondent falsified his application for 
renewal of his DEA registration when he answered ``no'' to the question 
of whether he had ever had a state license suspended. Id. at 2.
    Respondent requested a hearing on the allegations, and the matter 
was assigned to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), who proceeded to 
conduct pre-hearing procedures. Thereafter, the Government moved for 
summary disposition on the ground that under the terms of an order of 
the Medical Board of California, Respondent's state medical license was 
suspended. Gov. Mot. at 1. The motion noted that the Medical Board's 
Order of Interim Suspension not only suspended Respondent's license, it 
expressly ``prohibited Respondent from handling controlled substances 
and ordered Respondent to deliver to the Board his DEA registration.'' 
Id. at 3. The Government argued that there was no dispute that 
Respondent's license had been suspended in California, the State in 
which he maintains his DEA registration, and that under Federal Law, 
DEA ``cannot register a practitioner to handle controlled substances 
who is without authority to handle controlled substances in the State 
in which he practices.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f)). Id. at 2.
    In support of its motion, the Government attached a copy of the 
Order of Interim Suspension. The Order specifically stated that 
Respondent ``shall not * * * [p]ractice or attempt to practice any 
aspect of medicine in the State of California * * * [nor] [p]ossess, 
order, purchase, receive, prescribe, furnish, administer, or otherwise 
distribute controlled substances or dangerous drugs as defined by 
federal or state law.'' Johnston, Ex. Dir., v. Chi Wing Lung, M.D., OAH 
No. L2008010755, Order on Ex Parte Petition for Order of Interim 
Suspension, January 30, 2008, at 7. The Order also required that 
Respondent ``immediately deliver to the Division of Medical Quality * * 
* all Drug Enforcement Administration forms, and all Drug Enforcement 
Administration permits.'' Id.
    The ALJ ordered the Respondent to respond to the Government's 
motion by December 9, 2008; Respondent filed his response on December 
5, 2008. Respondent requested that the ALJ ``delay ruling on the 
Government's motion until April 1, 2009,'' as Respondent anticipated 
that the State Board would issue a final decision regarding his medical 
license by then. R. Resp. at 1-2.
    On December 12, 2008, the ALJ issued her Recommended Rulings, 
Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision. The ALJ noted that 
``Respondent himself states that his `Medical license was suspended on 
an interim basis pending the recommendation of a California 
Administrative Law Judge.' '' ALJ at 3. The ALJ thus concluded that 
``[t]hrough the Respondent's own admission, * * * Respondent lacks the 
authority to practice medicine in the State of California,'' and 
``[c]onsequently, * * * lacks the ability to prescribe controlled 
substances in that State.'' Id.
    Because no material fact was in dispute, the ALJ determined that 
there was no need for a ``plenary, administrative hearing.'' Id. at 5. 
Applying the Agency's settled rule that it lacks authority under the 
Controlled Substances Act to maintain a registration if the registrant 
is without state authority to handle controlled substances in the State 
in which he practices medicine, the ALJ concluded that ``the DEA lacks 
authority to continue the Respondent's DEA registration.'' Id. at 5; 
see 21 U.S.C. 823(f), 824(a)(3). The ALJ thus granted the Government's 
motion for summary disposition and recommended that the

[[Page 20347]]

Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration be revoked and that any 
pending renewal applications be denied. ALJ at 5-6. The ALJ then 
forwarded the record to me for final agency action.
    Having considered the record as a whole, I adopt the ALJ's decision 
in its entirety. I find that Respondent holds a current registration 
which does not expire until March 31, 2011. I also take official notice 
of the records of the Medical Board of California. See 5 U.S.C. 556(e). 
According to those records, effective March 30, 2009, the Medical Board 
of California adopted the Proposed Decision of a state ALJ to revoke 
Respondent's medical license. Thus, since the issuance of the State's 
Order of Interim Suspension, Respondent has lacked authority to handle 
controlled substances in California, the State in which he practices 
his profession. Respondent is therefore not entitled to maintain his 
DEA registration.\1\ See 21 U.S.C. 823(f), 802(21), and 824(a)(3). See 
also Michael Chait, 73 FR 40382, 40383 (2008); Dominick A. Ricci, 58 FR 
51104 (1993). Accordingly, Respondent's registration will be revoked.
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    \1\ I note there is no evidence presented whether Respondent 
complied with the Order of Immediate Suspension and did in fact 
deliver his DEA registration to the California Board.
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Order

    Pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(f) & 
824(a), as well as by 28 CFR 0.100(b) & 0.104, I hereby order that DEA 
Certificate of Registration, BL4971051, issued to Roy Chi Lung, M.D., 
be, and it hereby is, revoked. I further order that any pending 
application of Roy Chi Lung, M.D., for renewal or modification of his 
registration be, and it hereby is, denied. This order is effective June 
1, 2009.

    Dated: April 24, 2009.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-10029 Filed 4-30-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P