[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9223-9224]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02320]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Richard W. Walker, Jr., M.D.; Decision and Order

    On October 3, 2016, the Assistant Administrator, Diversion Control 
Division, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an Order to 
Show Cause to Richard W. Walker, M.D. (Registrant), of League City, 
Texas. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of his DEA 
Certificate of Registration No. AW2558750, on the ground that he does 
not have authority to dispense controlled substances in Texas, the 
State in which he is registered with the Agency. Order to Show Cause, 
at 1 (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f) and 824(a)(3)).
    With respect to the Agency's jurisdiction, the Show Cause Order 
alleged that Registrant is the holder of Registration No. AW2558750, 
pursuant to which he is authorized to dispense controlled substances in 
schedules II through V as a practitioner, at the registered address of 
4604 Hispania View Drive, League City, Texas. Id. The Order also 
alleges that Registrant's registration does not expire until May 31, 
2017. Id.
    As ground for the proposed action, the Show Cause Order alleged 
that ``[t]he Texas Medical Board issued an order, effective June 10, 
2016, which accepted [the] surrender of [his] authority to practice 
medicine.'' Id. The Order thus asserted that as a consequence of the 
Board's action, Registrant is without authority to dispense controlled 
substances in Texas, the State in which he is registered, and thus, 
``DEA must revoke'' his Registration. Id. at 1 (citing 21 U.S.C. 
802(21), 823(f)(1) and 824(a)(3)).
    The Show Cause Order notified Registrant of his right to request a 
hearing on the allegations or to submit a written statement in lieu of 
a hearing, the procedure for electing either option, and the 
consequence of failing to elect either option. Id. at 2 (citing 21 CFR 
1301.43).
    The Show Cause Order also notified Registrant of his right to 
submit a corrective action plan. Id. at 2-3 (citing 21 U.S.C. 
824(c)(2)(C)).

[[Page 9224]]

    On or about October 3, 2016, a Diversion Investigator (DI) from the 
Houston Division Office sent the Order to Show Cause by Certified Mail 
to Registrant at the address of his registered location. Appendix 4, at 
2 (Declaration of DI). According to the DI, on or about October 11, 
2016 she received back the signed return-receipt card showing that the 
Show Cause Order had been received at Registrant's registered address. 
Id. at 2. The DI further averred that while the date of receipt was not 
marked on the card, the Postal Service's Web site shows that the 
mailing ``was signed for on October 7, 2016.'' Id.
    On December 12, 2016, the Government submitted a Request for Final 
Agency Action (RFFA) and an evidentiary record to my Office. Therein, 
the Government represents that more than 30 days have passed since the 
Order to Show Cause was served on Registrant and that it ``has not 
received a request for hearing or any other reply from'' Registrant. 
RFFA at 2.
    Based on the Government's representation and the record, I find 
that more than 30 days have passed since the date of service of the 
Show Cause Order, and that neither Registrant, nor anyone purporting to 
represent him, has requested a hearing or submitted a written statement 
in lieu of a hearing. I therefore find that Registrant has waived his 
right to a hearing or to submit a written statement in lieu of a 
hearing, and issue this Decision and Order based on relevant evidence 
contained in the record submitted by the Government. 21 CFR 1301.43(d) 
& (e). I make the following findings of fact.

Findings

    Registrant is the holder of Certificate of Registration No. 
AW2558750, pursuant to which he is authorized to dispense controlled 
substances in schedules II through V as a practitioner, at the 
registered address of 4604 Hispania View Drive, League City, Texas; his 
registration does not expire until May 31, 2017. Appendix 2 
(Certificate of Registration).
    On June 10, 2016, Registrant entered into an Agreed Order of 
Revocation with the Texas Medical Board (the Board) ``to avoid further 
investigation, hearings, and the expense and inconvenience of 
litigation.'' Appendix 3, at 4 (Agreed Order of Revocation). The Board 
specifically found that Registrant ``failed to adequately supervise his 
prescriptive delegate . . . who non[-]therapeutically prescribed 
controlled substances and who operated an unregistered pain management 
clinic.'' Id. at 3. While ``[n]one of the patients involved in the 
allegations were [his] personal patients'' and Registrant ``denied the 
allegation,'' he ``surrender[ed] his license because of his inability 
to practice due to health reasons.'' Id. He further ``accept[ed] that 
the revocation of his Texas medical license will be accepted in lieu of 
further disciplinary proceedings and that it [was] effective on the 
date of the entry of th[e] Agreed Order.'' Id. See also id. at 4 
(citing Tex. Occ. Code Ann. Sec. Sec.  164.053(a)(8) and 164.057; 22 
Tex. Admin. Code 196.2). The Board thus ordered that Registrant's 
medical license be revoked and that he ``immediately cease practice in 
Texas.'' Id.
    Based on the Board's Order, and Registrant's failure to submit any 
evidence to show that his medical license has been reinstated, I find 
that Registrant is no longer currently authorized to dispense 
controlled substances in Texas, the State in which he is registered 
with the Agency.

Discussion

    Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General is authorized 
to suspend or revoke a registration issued under section 823 of Title 
21, ``upon a finding that the registrant . . . has had [his] State 
license . . . suspended [or] revoked . . . by competent State authority 
and is no longer authorized by State law to engage in the . . . 
dispensing of controlled substances.'' With respect to a practitioner, 
DEA has repeatedly held that the possession of authority to dispense 
controlled substances under the laws of the State in which he engages 
in professional practice is a fundamental condition for obtaining and 
maintaining a practitioner's registration. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, 
76 FR 71371 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 Fed. Appx. 826 (4th Cir. 
2012); see also Frederick Marsh Blanton, 43 FR 27616 (1978) (``State 
authorization to dispense or otherwise handle controlled substances is 
a prerequisite to the issuance and maintenance of a Federal controlled 
substances registration.'').
    This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the CSA. 
First, Congress defined ``the term `practitioner' [to] mean[ ] a . . . 
physician . . . or other person 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.'' 21 U.S.C. 802(21). Second, in 
setting the requirements for obtaining a practitioner's registration, 
Congress directed that ``[t]he Attorney General shall register 
practitioners . . . if the applicant is authorized to dispense . . . 
controlled substances under the laws of the State in which he 
practices.'' 21 U.S.C. 823(f). Because Congress has clearly mandated 
that a practitioner possess state authority in order to be deemed a 
practitioner under the Act, DEA has held repeatedly that revocation of 
a practitioner's registration is the appropriate sanction whenever he 
is no longer authorized to dispense controlled substances under the 
laws of the State in which he practices medicine. See, e.g., Calvin 
Ramsey, 76 FR 20034, 20036 (2011); Sheran Arden Yeates, M.D., 71 FR 
39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); 
Bobby Watts, 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Blanton, 43 FR at 27616.
    As found above, by virtue of the Agreed Order of Revocation, 
Registrant currently lacks authority to practice medicine and dispense 
controlled substances in Texas, the State in which he holds his DEA 
registration. Accordingly, I will order that his registration be 
revoked.

Order

    Pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 824(a), as well 
as 28 CFR 0.100(b), I order that DEA Certificate of Registration 
AW2558750, issued to Richard W. Walker, Jr., M.D., be, and it hereby 
is, revoked. Pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 
823(f), I further order that any pending application of Richard W. 
Walker, Jr., M.D., to renew or modify his registration, be, and it 
hereby is, denied. This Order is effective March 6, 2017.

    Dated: January 27th, 2017.
Chuck Rosenberg,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-02320 Filed 2-2-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-09-P