[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47467-47468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16630]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Endre Kovacs, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On April 12, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration 
(hereinafter, DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause 
(hereinafter, OSC) to Endre Kovacs, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). 
OSC, at 1,

[[Page 47468]]

3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of 
Registration No. BK5206695 at the registered address of 4476 Legendary 
Drive, Suite 100, Destin, Florida 32541. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that 
Registrant's registration should be revoked because Registrant is 
``without authority to handle controlled substances in the State of 
Florida, the state in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' 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), submitted July 7, 2022.\1\
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    \1\ Based on the Declarations from a DEA Diversion Investigator 
and a DEA Data Analyst that the Government submitted with its RFAA, 
the Agency finds that the Government's service of the OSC on 
Registrant was adequate. RFAA, Declaration 1, at 2; RFAA, 
Declaration 2, at 1. 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 1-3; 
see also 21 CFR 1301.43(d)-(e) and 21 U.S.C. 824(c)(2)(C).
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Findings of Fact

    On February 16, 2022, the Florida Board of Medicine issued a Final 
Order suspending Registrant's license to practice medicine in the State 
of Florida. RFAA, Declaration 1, Appendix C (Final Order), at 2; see 
also id. at 7 (Settlement Agreement). According to Florida's online 
records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's 
license is still suspended and Registrant is not authorized to practice 
medicine in Florida.\2\ Florida Department of Health License 
Verification, https://mqa-internet.doh.state.fl.us/MQASearchServices/HealthCareProviders (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 Florida, the state in which he 
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 finding 
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 
Controlled Substances Act (hereinafter, 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 at 
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 at 
27,617.
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    According to Florida statute, ``A practitioner, in good faith and 
in the course of his or her professional practice only, may prescribe, 
administer, dispense, mix, or otherwise prepare a controlled 
substance.'' Fla. Stat. Sec.  893.05(1)(a) (2022). Further, a 
``practitioner'' as defined by Florida statute includes ``a physician 
licensed under chapter 458.\4\'' Id. at Sec.  893.02(23).
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    \4\ Chapter 458 regulates medical practice.
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    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
currently is not a licensed practitioner in Florida, and a physician 
must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in 
Florida. Thus, Registrant is not eligible to maintain a DEA 
registration in Florida. 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 Certificate of Registration No. 
BK5206695 issued to Endre Kovacs, 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 Endre Kovacs, M.D. to renew or modify 
this registration, as well as any other pending application of Endre 
Kovacs, M.D. for additional registration in Florida.
    This Order is effective September 2, 2022.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
July 26, 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 
document upon publication in the Federal Register.

Heather Achbach,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Drug Enforcement Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-16630 Filed 8-2-22; 8:45 am]
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