[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79308-79309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22200]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D.; Decision and Order
On August 30, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Theodore S. Wright
Jr., M.D., of Chicago, Illinois (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. AW2016651,
alleging 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
Illinois, the state in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 1-2
(citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
The OSC notified Registrant of his right to file with DEA a written
request for hearing, and that if he failed to file such a request, he
would be deemed to have waived his 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] 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 17, 2023, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. Specifically, the included declaration from
a DEA Diversion Investigator indicates that on August 31, 2023,
Registrant was personally served with the OSC at his registered
address. RFAAX 2, at 1; see also id. at 3 (Form DEA-12 signed by
Registrant on August 31, 2023).
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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,
effective February 21, 2023, the Illinois Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation suspended
[[Page 79309]]
Registrant's Illinois medical license. RFAAX 1, at 1. According to
Illinois's online records, of which the Agency takes official notice,
Registrant's Illinois medical license remains suspended.\2\ Illinois
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation License Search,
https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx/ (last
visited date of signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds
that Registrant is not licensed to practice medicine in Illinois, the
state in which he 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 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). 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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Pursuant to the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, a practitioner
in good faith (``the regular course of professional treatment'') may
dispense a controlled substance. 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 570/312(a), 570/
102(u) (2024).\4\ 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
[Illinois] 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.'' Id.
570/102(kk).
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\4\ ``Dispense'' means ``to deliver a controlled substance to an
ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order
of a prescriber, including the prescribing, administering,
packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the
substance for that delivery.'' Id. 570/102(p).
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Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Illinois. As
discussed above, an individual must be a licensed practitioner to
dispense a controlled substance in Illinois. Thus, because Registrant
lacks authority to practice medicine in Illinois, and, therefore, is
not authorized to handle controlled substances in Illinois, 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.
AW2016651 issued to Theodore S. Wright Jr., 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 Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D.,
to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D., for additional
registration in Illinois. This Order is effective October 28, 2024.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
September 19, 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. 2024-22200 Filed 9-26-24; 8:45 am]
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