[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7103-7104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02132]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Reynaldo De Los Angeles, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On October 24, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration 
(hereinafter, DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause 
(hereinafter, OSC) to Reynaldo De Los Angeles, M.D. (hereinafter, 
Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (hereinafter, RFAA), 
Exhibit (hereinafter, RFAAX) 2 (OSC), at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the 
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. FD5611365 at 
the registered address of 1617 W 39th Street, Ste. 1, Kearney, NE 
68845-2713. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that Registrant's registration

[[Page 7104]]

should be revoked because Registrant is ``without authority to handle 
controlled substance[s] in Nebraska, 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 RFAA dated 
December 20, 2022.\1\
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    \1\ Based on a Declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator, 
the Agency finds that the Government's service of the OSC on 
Registrant was adequate. RFAAX 3, 2-3. 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 2; see also 21 CFR 1301.43 and 21 U.S.C. 
824(c)(2).
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Findings of Fact

    On October 5, 2022, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human 
Services (NDHHS) issued an Order temporarily suspending Registrant's 
Nebraska medical license based on Registrant's state criminal 
conviction from August of 2022.\2\ RFAAX 3, Appendix A, at 1-4. On 
December 7, 2022, NDHHS issued an Order revoking Registrant's Nebraska 
medical license based on both his state criminal conviction and on his 
lengthy disciplinary history with NDHHS. RFAAX 3, Appendix B, at 1, 5-
6; see also id. at 12-70
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    \2\ Registrant's Nebraska medical license expired by its terms 
on October 1, 2022. RFAAX 3, Appendix F.
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    According to Nebraska's online records, of which the Agency takes 
official notice, Registrant's license is still revoked.\3\ Nebraska 
Department of Health and Human Services License Information System 
Search, https://www.nebraska.gov/LISSearch/search.cgi (last visited 
date of signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that 
Registrant is not licensed to engage in the practice of medicine in 
Nebraska, the state in which he is registered with the DEA.
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    \3\ 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 71371 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th 
Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., FR 27616, 27617 (1978).\4\
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    \4\ 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 
71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, M.D., 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); 
Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, 
M.D., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, 43 FR at 
27617.
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    According to Nebraska statute, ``[d]ispense means to deliver a 
controlled substance to an ultimate user or a research subject pursuant 
to a medical order issued by a practitioner authorized to prescribe, 
including the packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare 
the controlled substance for such delivery.'' Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec.  28-
401(8) (2022). Further, a ``[p]ractitioner means a physician . . . or 
any other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to 
distribute, dispense, prescribe, conduct research with respect to, or 
administer a controlled substance in the course of practice or research 
in this state . . . .'' Id. at Sec.  28-401(21).
    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
lacks authority to practice medicine in Nebraska. As discussed above, a 
physician must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled 
substance in Nebraska. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to 
practice medicine in Nebraska and, therefore, is not authorized to 
handle controlled substances in Nebraska, 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. 
FD5611365 issued to Reynaldo De Los Angeles, 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 Reynaldo De Los Angeles, M.D., 
to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending 
application of Reynaldo De Los Angeles, M.D., for additional 
registration in Nebraska. This Order is effective March 6, 2023.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
January 25, 2023, 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. 2023-02132 Filed 2-1-23; 8:45 am]
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