[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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