[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 79 (Friday, April 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17454-17455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07174]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Syed Warsi, M.D.; Decision and Order
On August 25, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Syed Warsi, M.D., of
North Aurora, Illinois (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action
(RFAA), Appendix (RFAAX) A, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of
Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. BW8048022, alleging that
Registrant's registration should be revoked because Registrant is
``currently without authority to prescribe, administer, dispense, or
otherwise handle controlled substances in Illinois, the jurisdiction in
which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C.
824(a)(3)).\1\
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\1\ According to Agency records, Registrant's registration
expired on May 31, 2023. The fact that a registrant allows his
registration to expire during the pendency of an OSC does not impact
the Agency's jurisdiction or prerogative under the Controlled
Substances Act (CSA) to adjudicate the OSC to finality. Jeffrey D.
Olsen, M.D., 84 FR 68474, 68476-79 (2019).
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The Agency makes the following findings of fact based on the
uncontroverted evidence submitted by the Government in its RFAA dated
October 12, 2023.\2\
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\2\ 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 B, at 1. 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; see also 21 CFR 1301.43 and 21 U.S.C. 824(c)(2).
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Findings of Fact
On July 13, 2022, the Illinois Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation suspended Registrant's Illinois medical license
and Illinois controlled substance license. RFAAX C, at 4-5. According
to Illinois's online records, of which the Agency takes official
notice, Registrant's Illinois medical license and Illinois controlled
substance license both remain suspended.\3\ 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 nor to handle controlled
substances in Illinois, the state in which he is registered with
DEA.\4\
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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).
\4\ 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.'' The material fact here is
that Registrant, as of the date of this decision, is not licensed to
practice medicine nor to handle controlled substances in Illinois.
Accordingly, Registrant may dispute the Agency's finding this fact
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].
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Discussion
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General is authorized
to
[[Page 17455]]
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.
Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243, 270 (2006) (``The Attorney General
can register a physician to dispense controlled substances `if the
applicant is authorized to dispense . . . controlled substances under
the laws of the State in which he practices.' . . . The very definition
of a `practitioner' eligible to prescribe includes physicians
`licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by the United States or
the jurisdiction in which he practices' to dispense controlled
substances. Sec. 802(21).''). The Agency has applied these principles
consistently. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, M.D., 76 FR 71371, 71372
(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). 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, M.D., 76 FR at 71371-72;
Sheran Arden Yeats, M.D., 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A.
Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 51104, 51,105 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR
11919, 11920 (1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR at 27617.
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Pursuant to the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, 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 this State 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.'' 720 Ill. Comp. Stat.
570/102(kk) (2024). Further, the Illinois Controlled Substances Act
requires that ``[e]very person who manufactures, distributes, or
dispenses any controlled substances . . . must obtain a registration
issued by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in
accordance with its rules.'' Id. 570/302(a). The Illinois Controlled
Substances Act also authorizes the Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation to discipline a practitioner holding an
Illinois controlled substance license, stating that such license ``may
be denied, refused renewal, suspended, or revoked by the Department of
Financial and Professional Regulation.'' Id. 570/304(a).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Illinois
because both his Illinois medical license and his Illinois controlled
substance license are suspended. As discussed above, an individual must
be a licensed practitioner and must hold a valid controlled substance
license to dispense a controlled substance in Illinois. Thus, because
Registrant lacks authority 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.
BW8048022 issued to Syed Warsi, 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 Syed Warsi, M.D., to renew or
modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of
Syed Warsi, M.D., for additional registration in Illinois. This Order
is effective May 27, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
April 18, 2025, by Acting Administrator Derek Maltz. 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. 2025-07174 Filed 4-24-25; 8:45 am]
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