[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 178 (Thursday, September 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56712-56713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19972]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Mohammad H. Said, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On July 19, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter, 
DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to 
Mohammad H. Said, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). OSC, at 1, 3. The OSC 
proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. 
AS9144786 at the registered address of 524 East Division, P.O. Box 40, 
Ephrata, Washington 98823. 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 Washington, 
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 August 1, 2022.\1\
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    \1\ Based on a Declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator and 
a Declaration from a federal government contractor assigned as a 
data analyst to the DEA Office of Chief Counsel, the Agency finds 
that the Government's service of the OSC on Registrant was adequate. 
RFAA Exhibit (hereinafter, RFAAX) 2, at 2; RFAAX 5, 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 1-2; see also 21 CFR 
1301.43(d) and 21 U.S.C. 824(c)(2)(C).
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Findings of Fact

    On January 28, 2021, the State of Washington, Department of Health, 
Washington Medical Commission, issued an Order indefinitely suspending 
Registrant's license to practice medicine in Washington. RFAAX 4 (State 
of Washington, Dept. of Health Order dated January 28, 2021), at 2, 13-
14. According to Washington's online records, of which the Agency takes 
official notice, Registrant's license is still suspended. \2\ 
Washington State Department of Health Provider Credential Search, 
https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/providercredentialsearch (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 Washington, 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

[[Page 56713]]

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 Washington statute, ``A practitioner may dispense or 
deliver a controlled substance to or for an individual or animal only 
for medical treatment or authorized research in the ordinary course of 
that practitioner's profession.'' Wash. Rev. Code Sec.  69.50.308(j) 
(2022). Further, a ``prescription'' means ``an order for controlled 
substances issued by a practitioner duly authorized by law or rule in 
the state of Washington to prescribe controlled substances within the 
scope of his or her professional practice for a legitimate medical 
purpose.'' Id. at Sec.  69.50.101(nn). Finally, a ``practitioner'' as 
defined by Washington statute includes ``[a] physician under chapter 
18.71 RCW.'' Id. at Sec.  69.50.101(mm)(1).\4\
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    \4\ Chapter 18.71 regulates physicians.
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    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Washington. As 
already discussed, a physician must be a licensed practitioner to 
dispense or prescribe a controlled substance in Washington. Thus, 
because Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in Washington 
and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in 
Washington, 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 Certificate of Registration No. 
AS9144786 issued to Mohammad H. Said, 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 Mohammad H. Said, M.D., to renew or 
modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of 
Mohammad H. Said, M.D., for additional registration in Washington. This 
Order is effective October 17, 2022.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
September 8, 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. 2022-19972 Filed 9-14-22; 8:45 am]
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