[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29329-29330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13527]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


John Warren Cox, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On February 23, 2017, the Assistant Administrator, Diversion 
Control Division, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause to John Warren Cox, M.D. (Registrant), of West 
Point, Mississippi. GX 2. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation 
of Registrant's DEA Certificate of Registration No. BC6115047, on the 
ground that he does not have authority to handle controlled substances 
in Mississippi, the State in which he is registered with the Agency. 
Id. at 1 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
    With respect to the Agency's jurisdiction, the Show Cause Order 
alleged that Registrant is registered with the DEA as a practitioner 
authorized to handle controlled substances in schedules II through V 
under DEA registration BC6115047, at the registered address of 187 
Medical Center Drive, West Point, Mississippi. Id. The Order alleged 
that Registrant's registration expires by its terms on August 31, 2019. 
Id.
    As to the substantive ground for the proceeding, the Show Cause 
Order specifically alleged that on October 18, 2016, Registrant 
``voluntarily surrendered [his] Mississippi medical license and agreed 
to never again seek to be licensed in the State of Mississippi.'' Id. 
The Show Cause Order further alleged that because Registrant is 
currently without authority to practice medicine or handle controlled 
substances in the State of Mississippi, ``the DEA must revoke [his] DEA 
COR.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f) and 824(a)(3) (other citations 
omitted)).
    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 for failing to elect either option. Id. at 2 (citing 21 CFR 
1301.43). It also notified him of his right to submit a corrective 
action plan in accordance with 21 U.S.C. 824(c)(2)(C). Id. at 2-3.
    On February 24, 2017, a Diversion Investigator from the Jackson, 
Mississippi District Office personally served the Show Cause Order on 
Registrant at his residence in West Point, Mississippi. GX 4 
(Declaration of Diversion Investigator).
    On May 5, 2017, the Government forwarded its Request for Final 
Agency Action (RFAA) and an evidentiary record to my Office. Therein, 
the Government represents that Registrant ``has not filed a request for 
a hearing or a written statement, and more than 30 days ha[ve] now 
passed since he was served.'' RFAA, at 1-2.
    Based on the Government's representation that more than 30 days 
have now passed since the date of service of the Show Cause Order and 
that Registrant has not submitted a request for a hearing or a written 
statement, I find that Registrant has waived his right to a hearing or 
to submit a written statement in lieu of a hearing. 21 CFR 1301.43(d). 
I therefore issue this Decision and Final Order based on relevant 
evidence contained in the record submitted by the Government. Id. Sec.  
1301.43(d) & (e). I make the following findings of fact.

Findings

    Registrant is the holder of DEA Registration No. BC6115047, 
pursuant to which he is authorized to dispense controlled substances in 
Schedules II through V as a practitioner, at the registered address of 
187 Medical Center Drive, West Point, Mississippi. GX 1 (Certification 
of Registration History). His registration does not expire until August 
31, 2019. Id.
    On October 18, 2016, Registrant voluntarily surrendered his license 
to practice medicine in the State of Mississippi, and ``agree[d] to 
never seek application for a future license to practice medicine in the 
State of Mississippi.'' GX 3, at 2 (Surrender of Medical License). The 
agreement to voluntarily surrender his license followed an 
investigation by the Investigative Division of the Mississippi State 
Board of Medical Licensure, which ``ha[d] in its possession evidence 
which, if produced during the course of an evidentiary hearing, would 
show [that Registrant's] continued practice constitutes a threat to the 
public health and safety due to his impairment.'' Id. at 2. 
Registrant's surrender became effective immediately upon execution of 
the surrender form on October 18, 2016. Id.
    A printout from the Mississippi Board's Physician Profile System, 
dated May 5, 2017, shows that Registrant's license to practice medicine 
``expired''

[[Page 29330]]

on 10/31/2016, and that he ``voluntarily surrender[ed] his Mississippi 
medical license and agrees never to seek application for a future 
license to practice medicine in the State of MS.'' GX 4, Attachment A, 
at 1-2 (https://ksitspe01.its.state.ms.us/msbml/MLB.nsf/ByLicenseNo/08934); see also GX 4 (Declaration of Diversion Investigator). I 
therefore find that Registrant does not have authority to dispense 
controlled substances under the laws of Mississippi, 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.'' Moreover, with respect to a 
practitioner, DEA has long held that the possession of authority to 
dispense controlled substances under the laws of the State in which a 
practitioner engages in professional practice is a fundamental 
condition for obtaining and maintaining a registration. See, e.g., 
James L. Hooper, 76 FR 71371 (2011) (collecting cases), pet. for rev. 
denied, 481 Fed. Appx. 826 (4th Cir. 2012); see also Frederick Marsh 
Blanton, 43 FR 27616, 27617 (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); see also Blanton, 43 FR at 
27617.
    Because Registrant is no longer currently authorized to dispense 
controlled substances in Mississippi, the State in which he is 
registered with the Agency, I will therefore 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 No. 
BC6115047, issued to John Warren Cox, 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 John Warren Cox, M.D., to 
renew or modify this registration, be, and it hereby is, denied. This 
Order is effective July 28, 2017.

    Dated: June 21, 2017.
Chuck Rosenberg,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-13527 Filed 6-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-09-P