[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21721-21722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07501]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration

[Docket No. 23-3]


Donn Bullens, J.R., N.P.; Decision and Order

    On September 7, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration 
(hereinafter, DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause 
(hereinafter, OSC) to Donn Bullens, Jr., N.P. (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. MB4611744 at 
the registered address of 227 Babcock Street, Brookline, MA 02446. 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 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 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

[[Page 21722]]

the Government in its RFAA dated February 22, 2023.\1\
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    \1\ On November 1, 2022, Registrant represented that he was not 
served with the OSC until October 21, 2022, and requested a thirty-
day extension to determine whether to request a hearing. RFFAX 4, at 
1. On November 7, 2022, the Government filed a Notice of Filing of 
Evidence Regarding Proof of Service agreeing that Registrant had not 
been served with the OSC until October 21, 2022 and thus that 
Registrant's extension request was timely. Id. On November 7, 2022, 
Administrative Law Judge Teresa A. Wallbaum (hereinafter, the ALJ) 
issued an Order Granting in Part [Registrant's] Extension Request to 
File a Request for Hearing that gave Registrant until 2:00 p.m. on 
December 5, 2022 to file a Request for Hearing. Id. at 1, 3. On 
December 6, 2022, the ALJ issued an Order Terminating Proceedings, 
indicating that, as of December 6, 2022, Registrant had not filed 
anything with the tribunal. RFAAX 5, at 1.
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Findings of Fact

    On September 7, 2021, the Massachusetts Drug Control Program issued 
a letter to Registrant accepting Registrant's voluntary surrender of 
his Massachusetts controlled substance registration (hereinafter, 
MCSR). RFAAX 3, Attachment D.\2\ According to Massachusetts online 
records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's MCSR 
was voluntarily surrendered and is expired.\3\ Massachusetts Health 
Professions License Verification Site, https://madph.mylicense.com/verification (last visited date of signature of this Order).\4\ 
Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not authorized to 
handle controlled substances in Massachusetts, the state in which he is 
registered with the DEA.
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    \2\ The letter states, ``[u]pon receipt of this letter, you are 
no longer authorized to prescribe, distribute, possess, dispense or 
administer controlled substances in Massachussets.'' Id. On 
September 9, 2021, Registrant signed the letter to confirm that he 
had received it and had voluntarily surrendered his MCSR as of that 
date. Id. Further, on September 9, 2021, the Massachusetts Board of 
Registration in Nursing issued an Order of Summary Suspension and 
Notice of Hearing that suspended both Registrant's Massachusetts 
registered nurse license and Registrant's Massachusetts certified 
nurse practitioner authorization. RFAAX 3, Attachment E, at 1 and 4.
    \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].
    \4\ Further, both Registrant's Massachusetts registered nurse 
license and Registrant's Massachusetts certified nurse practitioner 
authorization are listed as suspended and expired. Id.
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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., 43 FR 27616, 27617 
(1978).\5\
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    \5\ 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, Pub. L. 
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 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 the Massachusetts Controlled Substances Act, ``every 
person who manufactures, distributes or dispenses, or possesses with 
intent to manufacture, distribute or dispense any controlled substance 
within the commonwealth shall . . . register with the commissioner of 
public health, in accordance with his regulations . . . .'' Mass. Gen. 
Laws. ch. 94C, Sec.  7(a) (2022). Further, ``[a] prescription for a 
controlled substance may be issued only by a practitioner who is: (1) 
authorized to prescribe controlled substances; and (2) registered 
pursuant to the provisions of [the Massachusetts Controlled Substances 
Act].'' Id. at Sec.  18(a).
    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Massachusetts 
because Registrant voluntarily surrendered his MCSR and his MCSR has 
expired. As already discussed, a practitioner must hold a valid 
controlled substance registration to dispense a controlled substance in 
Massachusetts. 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. 
MB4611744 issued to Donn Bullens, Jr., N.P. 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 Donn Bullens, Jr., N.P., to 
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending 
application of Donn Bullens, Jr., N.P., for additional registration in 
Massachusetts. This Order is effective May 11, 2023.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
April 4, 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. 2023-07501 Filed 4-10-23; 8:45 am]
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