[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 122 (Monday, June 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38185-38186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13627]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Jonathan Rosenfield, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On March 31, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration 
(hereinafter, DEA or Government), issued an Order to Show Cause 
(hereinafter, OSC) to Jonathan Rosenfield, M.D. (hereinafter, 
Registrant). OSC, at 1 and 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of 
Registrant's Certificates of Registration Nos. FR4795780 and FR5759216 
at the registered addresses of 393 Georgia Avenue SE, Atlanta, Georgia, 
and 1077 South Main Street, Madison, Georgia. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged 
that Registrant's registrations should be revoked because Registrant is 
``without authority to handle controlled substances in Georgia, the 
state in which [he is] registered with DEA for [both] registrations.'' 
Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
    The Agency makes the following findings of fact based on the 
uncontroverted evidence submitted by the Government in its Request for 
Final Agency Action (RFAA) dated May 31, 2022.\1\
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    \1\ Based on the two Declarations from DEA Diversion 
Investigators that the Government submitted with its RFAA, the 
Agency finds that the Government's attempts to serve Registrant with 
the OSC were adequate. RFAA, Apps. 1-2. Further, based on the 
Government's assertions in its RFAA, the Agency finds that more than 
thirty days have passed since Registrant was served with the OSC and 
Registrant has neither requested a hearing nor submitted a written 
statement or corrective action plan and therefore has waived any 
such rights. RFAA, at 4; see also 21 CFR 1301.43(d) and 21 U.S.C. 
824(c)(2)(C).
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Findings of Fact

    A DEA Diversion Investigator attested that he became aware of the 
lapse in Registrant's Georgia medical license in the course of his 
official duties and confirmed the lapse on the state website and also 
``through conversations with those at the Georgia Composite Medical 
Board.'' RFAA, App. 2, at 3. According to Georgia's online records, of 
which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's Georgia medical 
license expired on March 31, 2021, and is currently in a ``lapsed'' 
status.\2\ Georgia Composite Medical Board, https://gcmb.mylicense.com/verification (last visited date of signature of this Order). 
Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not currently licensed 
to engage in the practice of medicine in Georgia, the state in which 
Registrant is registered with the DEA.
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    \2\ Under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency ``may take 
official notice of facts at any stage in a proceeding--even in the 
final decision.'' United States Department of Justice, Attorney 
General's Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act 80 (1947) (Wm. 
W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc., Reprint 1979). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 556(e), 
``[w]hen an agency decision rests on official notice of a material 
fact not appearing in the evidence in the record, a party is 
entitled, on timely request, to an opportunity to show the 
contrary.'' Accordingly, Registrant may dispute the Agency's 
findings by filing a properly supported motion for reconsideration 
of findings of fact within fifteen calendar days of the date of this 
Order. Any such motion and response shall be filed and served by 
email to the other party and to Office of the Administrator, Drug 
Enforcement Administration at [email protected].
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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 the CSA 
``upon a finding that the registrant . . . has had his State license or 
registration 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, the DEA has also 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 practitioner's 
registration. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, M.D., 76 FR 71,371 (2011), 
pet. for rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh 
Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27,616, 27,617 (1978).\3\
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    \3\ 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 CSA, the 
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. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, 76 FR 
71,371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, M.D., 71 FR 39,130, 39,131 (2006); 
Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 51,104, 51,105 (1993); Bobby Watts, 
M.D., 53 FR 11,919, 11,920 (1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, 43 FR 
27,617.
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    According to Georgia statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver a 
controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or 
pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the 
prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding 
necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.'' Ga. Code Ann. 
Sec.  16-13-21(9) (2022). Further, a ``practitioner'' means a 
``physician . . . or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise 
authorized under the laws of [Georgia] to distribute, dispense, conduct 
research with respect to, or administer a controlled substance in the 
course of professional practice or research in [Georgia].'' Id. at 
Sec.  16-13-21(23)(A). Because Registrant is not currently licensed as 
a physician, or otherwise licensed in Georgia, he is not authorized to 
dispense controlled substances in Georgia. Therefore, Registrant is not 
eligible to maintain a DEA registration. Accordingly, the Agency will 
order that Registrant's DEA registration be revoked.

Order

    Pursuant to 28 CFR 0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21 
U.S.C. 824(a), I hereby revoke DEA Certificates of Registration Nos. 
FR4795780 and FR5759216 issued to Jonathan Rosenfield, M.D. Further, 
pursuant to 28 CFR 0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 
823(f), I hereby deny any pending applications of Jonathan Rosenfield, 
M.D. to renew or modify these registrations, as well as any other 
pending application of Jonathan Rosenfield, M.D. for additional 
registration in Georgia. This Order is effective July 27, 2022.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
June 21, 2022, by Administrator Anne Milgram. That document with the 
original signature and date is maintained by DEA. For administrative 
purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the 
Federal Register, the undersigned DEA Federal Register Liaison Officer 
has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic 
format for publication, as an official document of DEA. This 
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this

[[Page 38186]]

document upon publication in the Federal Register.

Scott Brinks,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Drug Enforcement Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-13627 Filed 6-24-22; 8:45 am]
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