[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59933-59934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16213]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Carrie L. Madej, DO; Decision and Order

    On May 15, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or 
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Carrie L. Madej, 
D.O. (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (RFAA), Exhibit 
(RFAAX) 1, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's 
Certificate of Registration No. FM6088997 at the registered address of 
527 Luther Bailey Road, Senoia, Georgia 30276. Id. at 1. The OSC 
alleged that Registrant's registration should be revoked because 
Registrant is ``currently without authority to prescribe, administer, 
dispense, or otherwise handle controlled substances in the state of 
Georgia,'' the state in which Registrant is registered with DEA. Id. at 
1-2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
    The OSC notified Registrant of her right to file with DEA a written 
request for hearing, and that if she failed to file such a request, she 
would be deemed to have waived her right to a hearing and be in 
default. Id. at 2 (citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not 
request a hearing. RFAA, at 2.\1\ ``A default, unless excused, shall be 
deemed to constitute a waiver of the registrant's/applicant's right to 
a hearing and an admission of the factual allegations of the [OSC].'' 
21 CFR 1301.43(e).
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    \1\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated 
October 12, 2023, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on the 
Registrant was adequate. Specifically, the submitted Declaration 
from a DEA Diversion Investigator indicates that Registrant was 
personally served with the OSC on May 25, 2023. RFAAX 2, at 1.
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    Further, ``[i]n the event that a registrant . . . is deemed to be 
in default . . . DEA may then file a request for final agency action 
with the Administrator, along with a record to support its request. In 
such circumstances, the Administrator may enter a default final order 
pursuant to [21 CFR] Sec.  1316.67.'' Id. Sec.  1301.43(f)(1). Here, 
the Government has requested final agency action based on Registrant's 
default pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(c), (f), 1301.46. RFAA, at 1; see 
also 21 CFR 1316.67.

Findings of Fact

    The Agency finds that, in light of Registrant's default, the 
factual allegations in the OSC are admitted. According to the OSC, on 
January 4, 2023, Registrant surrendered her Georgia medical license, 
with the surrender made effective on January 6, 2023. RFAAX 1, at 1. 
According to Georgia online records, of which the Agency takes official 
notice, Registrant's Georgia medical license remains ``Voluntarily 
Surrendered.'' \2\ Georgia Composite Medical Board License Search, 
https://gcmb.mylicense.com/verification (last visited date of signature 
of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not 
licensed to practice medicine in Georgia, the state in which she is 
registered with DEA.
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    \2\ 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 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 21 U.S.C. 823 ``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, 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, D.O., 76 FR 71371, 71372 (2011), pet. for 
rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, 
D.O., 43 FR 27616, 27617 (1978).\3\
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    \3\ This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the 
Controlled Substances Act (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, 
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 
71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, D.O., 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); 
Dominick A. Ricci, D.O., 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, 
D.O., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, 43 FR 
27617.
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    According to Georgia statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver a 
controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or 
pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the 
prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding 
necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.'' Ga. Code Ann. 
section 16-13-21(9) (2023). Further, a ``practitioner'' means a 
``physician . . . or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise 
authorized under the laws of [Georgia] to distribute, dispense, conduct 
research with respect to, or administer a controlled substance in the 
course of professional practice or research in [Georgia].'' Id. section 
16-13-21(23)(A).
    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
lacks authority to practice medicine in Georgia. As discussed above, a 
physician must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled 
substance in Georgia. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to 
practice medicine in Georgia and, therefore, is not authorized to 
handle controlled substances in Georgia, Registrant is not eligible to 
maintain a DEA registration. Accordingly, the Agency will order that 
Registrant's DEA registration be revoked.

[[Page 59934]]

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. 
FM6088997 issued to Carrie Madej, D.O. 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 Carrie Madej, D.O., to renew or 
modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of 
Carrie Madej, D.O., for additional registration in Georgia. This Order 
is effective August 23, 2024.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
July 15, 2024, 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. 2024-16213 Filed 7-23-24; 8:45 am]
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