[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17265-17266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05807]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Shahid Masood, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On July 29, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter, 
DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to 
Shahid Masood, 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. FM7946481 at the registered address of 667 86th Place, 
Downers Grove, IL 60516. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that Registrant's 
registration should be revoked because Registrant is ``currently 
without authority to handle controlled substances in the State of 
Illinois, the state in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 
(citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).\1\
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    \1\ According to Agency records, Registrant's DEA Certificate of 
Registration No. FM7946481 expired on January 31, 2022, and 
Registrant's request for renewal of his registration was received on 
January 27, 2022.
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    The Agency makes the following findings of fact based on the 
uncontroverted evidence submitted by the Government in its RFAA dated 
February 7, 2023.\2\
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    \2\ Based on the Declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator, 
the Agency finds that the Government's service of the OSC on 
Registrant was adequate. RFAAX 3, at 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 
corrective action plan and therefore has waived any such rights. 
RFAA, at 2-3; RFAAX 3, at 3; see also 21 CFR 1301.43 and 21 U.S.C. 
824(c)(2).
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Findings of Fact

    On November 9, 2021, the State of Illinois Department of Financial 
and Professional Regulation issued an Order suspending both 
Registrant's Illinois medical license and Registrant's Illinois 
controlled substance license. RFAAX 3, Attachment B, at 1, 8. According 
to Illinois online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, 
both Registrant's Illinois medical license and Registrant's Illinois 
controlled substance license are still suspended.\3\ Illinois 
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, License Lookup, 
https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx (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 nor in the handling of controlled substances in Illinois, 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 the DEA 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

[[Page 17266]]

Blanton, M.D., 43 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(g)(1) (this 
section, formerly Sec.  823(f), was redesignated as part of the 
Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, Public Law 
117-215, 136 Stat. 2257 (2022)). 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 71371 and 71372; 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 27617.
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    Pursuant to the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, a 
``practitioner'' means ``a physician licensed to practice medicine in 
all its branches . . . or other person licensed, registered, or 
otherwise lawfully permitted by the United States or this State to 
distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, administer or 
use in teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled substance in the 
course of professional practice or research.'' 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 
Ann. 570/102(kk) (2022). Further, the Illinois Controlled Substances 
Act requires that ``[e]very person who manufactures, distributes, or 
dispenses any controlled substances . . . must obtain a registration 
issued by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in 
accordance with its rules.'' Id. at 570/302(a).\5\
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    \5\ The Illinois Controlled Substances Act also authorizes the 
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to discipline a 
practitioner holding a controlled substance license, stating that 
``[a] registration under Section 303 to manufacture, distribute, or 
dispense a controlled substance . . . may be denied, refused 
renewal, suspended, or revoked by the Department of Financial and 
Professional Regulation.'' Id. at 570/304(a).
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    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
currently lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Illinois 
as both his Illinois medical license and his Illinois controlled 
substance license are suspended. As already discussed, a practitioner 
must hold a valid controlled substance license to dispense a controlled 
substance in Illinois. Thus, because Registrant lacks state authority 
to handle controlled substances, 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. 
FM7946481 issued to Shahid Masood, M.D. Further, pursuant to 28 CFR 
0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(1), I 
hereby deny any pending applications of Shahid Masood, M.D., to renew 
or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application 
of Shahid Masood, M.D., for additional registration in Illinois. This 
Order is effective April 21, 2023.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
March 15, 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. 2023-05807 Filed 3-21-23; 8:45 am]
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