[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21720-21721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07508]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Thomas W. Stinson, III, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On November 21, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration 
(hereinafter, DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause 
(hereinafter, OSC) to Thomas W. Stinson, III, M.D. (hereinafter, 
Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (hereinafter, RFAA), 
Exhibit (hereinafter, RFAAX) 2, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the 
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. AS7987348 at 
the registered address of 400 W Cummings Park, STE 1825, Woburn, MA 
01801. 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 the Government in its RFAA dated 
March 6, 2023.\1\
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    \1\ 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 August 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in 
Medicine issued an Order of Temporary Suspension that immediately 
suspended Registrant's Massachusetts medical license. RFAAX 3, 
Attachment C, at 1. Due to the suspension of Registrant's Massachusetts 
medical license, on August 17, 2022, the Massachusetts Drug Control 
Program issued a letter to Registrant terminating Registrant's

[[Page 21721]]

Massachusetts controlled substance registration (hereinafter, MCSR). 
RFAAX 3, Attachment D.\2\
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    \2\ The letter states that Registrant ``is no longer authorized 
to prescribe, distribute, possess, dispense, or administer 
controlled substances in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.'' Id. 
Moreover, on February 2, 2023, the Massachusetts Board of 
Registration in Medicine issued a Final Decision and Order revoking 
Registrant's Massachusetts medical license. RFAAX 3, Attachment E, 
at 1, 6.
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    According to Massachusetts online records, of which the Agency 
takes official notice, Registrant's MCSR is terminated.\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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    \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, Registrant's Massachusetts medical license is 
revoked. Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine Physician 
License Verification Site, https://findmydoctor.mass.gov (last 
visited date of signature of this Order).
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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's MCSR was terminated. 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. 
AS7987348 issued to Thomas W. Stinson, III, 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 Thomas W. Stinson, III, M.D., 
to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending 
application of Thomas W. Stinson, III, M.D., 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. 2023-07508 Filed 4-10-23; 8:45 am]
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