[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30096-30097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12608]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
William Washington, M.D.; Decision and Order
On January 22, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to William Washington,
M.D., of Bellevue, Washington (Registrant). Request for Final Agency
Action (RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) A, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. FW5625213,
alleging that Registrant is ``currently without authority to handle
controlled substances in the State of Washington, the state in which
[he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
The OSC notified Registrant of his right to file 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/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
February 24, 2025, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. Specifically, a Form DEA-12, Receipt for
Cash or Other Items, indicates that a DEA Diversion Investigator
personally served Registrant with the OSC on January 22, 2025. RFAAX
B, 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] 1316.67.'' Id. 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 1-2; 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
November 26, 2024, the Washington Medical Commission permanently
revoked Registrant's Washington medical license. RFAAX A, at 1.
According to Washington online records, of which the Agency takes
official notice,\2\ Registrant's Washington medical license remains
revoked. Washington State Department of Health Provider Credential
Search, https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/providercredentialsearch/default.aspx (last visited date of signature of this Order).
Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed to
practice medicine in Washington, the state in which he is registered
with DEA.\3\
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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).
\3\ 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 in Washington. 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].
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Discussion
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General may 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.
[[Page 30097]]
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).\4\
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\4\ 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 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, M.D., 43 FR at 27617.
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According to Washington statute, ``[a] practitioner may dispense or
deliver a controlled substance to or for an individual or animal only
for medical treatment or authorized research in the ordinary course of
that practitioner's profession.'' Wash. Rev. Code Sec. 69.50.308(j)
(2022). Further, a ``prescription'' means ``an order for controlled
substances issued by a practitioner duly authorized by law or rule in
the state of Washington to prescribe controlled substances within the
scope of his or her professional practice for a legitimate medical
purpose.'' Id. at Sec. 69.50.101(41) (West 2025). Finally, a
``practitioner'' as defined by Washington statute includes ``[a]
physician licensed to practice medicine and surgery.'' Id. at Sec.
69.50.101(40)(c).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Washington. As
already discussed, a physician must be a licensed practitioner to
dispense or prescribe a controlled substance in Washington. Thus,
because Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in Washington
and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in
Washington, Registrant is not eligible to maintain a DEA registration
in Washington. 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.
FW5625213 issued to William Washington, 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 William Washington, M.D., to
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of William Washington, M.D., for additional registration in
Washington. This Order is effective August 7, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
July 1, 2025, by Acting Administrator Robert J. Murphy. 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. 2025-12608 Filed 7-7-25; 8:45 am]
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