[Federal Register: April 11, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 69)]
[Notices]
[Page 18274-18275]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11ap07-122]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 06-58]
Piyush V. Patel, M.D.; Revocation of Registration
On May 9, 2006, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to
Show Cause to Piyush V. Patel, M.D. (Respondent) of Midland, Texas. The
Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's DEA
Certificate of Registration, AP1614800, as a practitioner, on the
ground that Respondent's license to practice medicine in the State of
Texas had been revoked, and that Respondent was therefore ``without
authority to handle controlled substances in Texas, the State in which
[he] practices.'' Show Cause Order at 1. The Show Cause Order also
informed Respondent of his right to request a hearing.
Respondent, acting pro se, filed a timely request for a hearing;
the matter was assigned to Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Mary Ellen
Bittner. In that request, Respondent stated that he was currently
incarcerated and requested that the hearing be delayed until after his
release on April 7, 2007. Respondent also indicated that he was not
currently licensed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.
On June 21, 2006, the Government moved for summary disposition on
the ground that Respondent was ``not currently authorized to engage in
the active practice of medicine or to handle controlled substances in
Texas.'' Mot. for Summary Disp. at 2. In support of its motion, the
Government attached an ``Agreed Order'' (dated August 26, 2005) which
Respondent had entered into with the Texas State Board of Medical
[[Page 18275]]
Examiners. Under the order, Respondent's Texas medical license was
revoked.
Thereafter, on July 13, 2006, the ALJ denied Respondent's request
to stay the hearing until after his release from prison. ALJ Dec. at 2.
The ALJ further ordered that Respondent file a response to the
Government's motion by August 3, 2006. Respondent, however, failed to
do so.
Thereafter, the ALJ granted the Government's motion. The ALJ noted
that Respondent ``acknowledges that his license to practice medicine in
Texas is revoked, and will remain revoked at least until his release
from prison on April 7, 2007.'' Id. As this material fact was
undisputed, the ALJ held that because ``Respondent lacks state
authority, he is not entitled to a DEA registration in Texas,'' and
therefore recommended that Respondent's registration be revoked. Id. at
2-3. The ALJ then forwarded the record to me for final agency action.
Having considered the record as a whole, I adopt the ALJ's
recommendation that Respondent's registration be revoked. But in doing
so, I decline to adopt the ALJ's reasoning to the extent it relies
solely on the Texas State Board of Medical Examiner's revocation of
Respondent's medical license. Under Texas law, a practitioner must
obtain a separate state registration to dispense a controlled
substance. Texas Health & Safety Code Sec. 481.061. The record,
however, contains no evidence regarding the status of Respondent's
state registration.
Therefore, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 556(e), I take official
notice of the fact that according to the Texas Department of Public
Safety's Controlled Substances Registration verification search page,
Respondent is not currently registered to dispense controlled
substances in the State.\1\
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\1\ Under the Administrative Procedure Act, ``[a]gencies may
take official notice of facts at any stage in a proceeding--even in
the final decision.'' Attorney General's Manual on the
Administrative Procedure Act 80 (1946) ( Wm. W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc.,
reprint 1979). In accordance with the Act, Respondent may ``show to
the contrary'' by filing a request for reconsideration which
includes supporting documentation within fifteen days of receipt of
this order.
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Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a practitioner must be
currently authorized to handle controlled substances in ``the
jurisdiction in which he practices'' in order to maintain a DEA
registration. See 21 U.S.C. 802(21) (``[t]he term `practitioner' means
a physician * * * 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''). See also id. section 823(f) (``The Attorney
General shall register practitioners * * * if the applicant is
authorized to dispense * * * controlled substances under the laws of
the State in which he practices.''). DEA has held repeatedly that the
CSA requires the revocation of a registration issued to a practitioner
who no longer possesses authority under state law to handle controlled
substances. See Sheran Arden Yeates, 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006);
Dominick A. Ricci, 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, 53 FR 11919,
11920 (1988). See also 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3) (authorizing the revocation
of a registration ``upon a finding that the registrant * * * has had
his State license or registration suspended [or] revoked * * * and is
no longer authorized by State law to engage in the * * * distribution
[or] dispensing of controlled substances''). Therefore, Respondent's
DEA registration must be revoked.\2\
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\2\ The expiration date of Respondent's DEA registration is
March 31, 2008.
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Order
Accordingly, pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C.
823(f) & 824(a), as well as 28 CFR 0.100(b) & 0.104, I hereby order
that DEA Certificate of Registration, AP1614800, issued to Piyush V.
Patel, M.D., be, and it hereby is, revoked. I further order that any
pending applications for renewal or modification of such registration
be, and they hereby are, denied. This order is effective May 11, 2007.
Dated: March 30, 2007.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-6761 Filed 4-10-07; 8:45 am]
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