Federal
Register Notices > Registrant
Actions - 2007 >
Julian A. Abbey, M.D.; Revocation of Registration
FR Doc E7-4237 [Federal Register: March 9, 2007 (Volume 72, Number
46)] [Notices] [Page 10788-10789] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr09mr07-125]
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Julian A. Abbey, M.D.; Revocation of Registration
On April 17, 2006, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to
Show Cause to Julian A. Abbey, M.D., (Respondent) of Saugus,
Massachusetts. The Show Cause Order proposed to revoke Respondent's DEA
Certificate of Registration, BA4361426, as a practitioner on two
grounds.
First, the Show Cause Order alleged that Respondent had entered into
a voluntary agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in
Medicine in which he agreed to cease the practice of medicine in that
State effective July 30, 2004. Show Cause Order at 1. The Show Cause
Order further alleged that the agreement constituted a disciplinary
action against Respondent's state license. Id.
Second, the Show Cause Order alleged that on August 4, 2004,
Respondent had submitted an on-line renewal application for his DEA
registration in which he falsely indicated that he "had not been the
subject of any State disciplinary or licensing action.'' Id. at 2. The
Show Cause Order further alleged that based on Respondent's
misrepresentation, DEA renewed his registration. Id.
On April 21, 2006, the Government attempted to serve the Show Cause
Order, which also notified Respondent of his right to request a hearing,
by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. However, the mailing was
returned unclaimed. Thereafter, on May 18, 2006, the Government served
the Show Cause Order by First Class Mail to the address of Respondent's
registered location. Since that time, neither Respondent, nor any one
purporting to represent him, has responded. Because (1) more than thirty
days have passed since service of the Show Cause Order, and (2) no
request for a hearing has been received, I conclude that Respondent has
waived his right to a hearing. See 21
CFR 1301.43(d). I therefore enter this final order without a hearing
based on relevant material found in the investigative file and make the
following findings.
Findings
Respondent holds DEA Certificate of Registration, BA4361426, which
was initially issued to him on March 15, 1995. On August 3, 2004,
Respondent renewed his registration using the DEA Internet site.
Respondent's registration does not expire until June 30, 2007.
On June 25, 2004, Respondent entered into a "Voluntary Agreement Not
To Practice Medicine'' with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in
Medicine (Board); on July 30, 2004, the Board accepted the agreement.
Under the agreement, Respondent agreed to immediately cease practicing
medicine in Massachusetts. Moreover, Respondent acknowledged that the
agreement constituted "a voluntary restriction of my license to practice
medicine and is considered to be a disciplinary action that is
reportable to any national data reporting system'' pursuant to
Massachusetts law. Agreement at 1. Respondent also agreed that "[a]ny
violation of this Agreement shall be prima facie evidence for immediate
summary suspension of my license to practice medicine.'' Id.
Furthermore, according to the Board, "as a consequence of such an
agreement, a physician may not prescribe controlled substances.''
Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, Press Release (Nov. 9,
2005).
According to the investigative file, on October 28, 2005, Respondent
was arrested in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, and charged under state law
with the illegal possession of a class C substance (hydrocodone
bitartrate) with intent to distribute. According to the file, during the
period following Respondent's entering into the voluntary agreement and
his arrest, Respondent obtained approximately 37,500 tablets of
hydrocodone bitartrate 10mg/650mg.
Thereafter, on November 9, 2005, the Board summarily suspended
Respondent's state medical license on the ground that he posed an
immediate threat to the public safety, health and welfare. According to
online records of the Board, Respondent's medical license remains
suspended. See Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine Physician
Profile, Julian Abbey, M.D.
Under Massachusetts law, a physician must also hold a registration to
handle a controlled substance; the registration is issued by the State's
Commissioner of Public Health. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, Sec. 7(a).
On December 1, 2005, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health sent
a letter to Respondent notifying him that he was "no longer authorized
as a registrant under [Massachusetts law] to prescribe, distribute,
possess, dispense or administer controlled substances in the
Commonwealth.'' Letter from Adele D. Audet, Assistant Director, Drug
Control Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, to
Respondent (Dec. 1, 2005). The letter further advised Respondent that
his state controlled substances registration would be terminated unless
Respondent produced evidence of his authority to practice medicine in
the State within thirty days of his receipt of the letter. A March 28,
2006 letter from the Department of Public Health to Respondent confirms
that he no longer holds authority under Massachusetts law to handle
controlled substances. Letter from Patricia Calvagna-Lusk,
Administrative Coordinator, Massachusetts Department of Public Health,
to Respondent (Mar. 28, 2006).
Discussion
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. Sec. 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
[[Page 10789]]
whose state controlled substances authority has been suspended or
revoked. 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'').
As found above, the letters from the State Department of Health
establish that Respondent no longer has authority to handle controlled
substances in Massachusetts, the State in which he holds his DEA
registration. Therefore, Respondent is no longer entitled to maintain
his DEA registration.
Furthermore, based on the evidence in the investigative file which
shows that Respondent obtained 37,500 dosage units of hydrocodone
bitartrate notwithstanding that he no longer had authority to practice
medicine, I conclude that Respondent was engaged in the diversion of
substantial quantities of controlled substances. Therefore, while this
conduct was not alleged as grounds for the revocation of Respondent's
registration, I conclude that the public interest requires that
Respondent's registration be revoked effective immediately.\1\ See 21
CFR 1316.67.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ While the Show Cause Order also alleged that
Respondent materially falsified his application, the investigative
file does not contain any probative evidence on this issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Order
Accordingly, pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21
U.S.C. 823(f) and 824(a),
as well as 28 CFR 0.100(b) and 0.104, I hereby order that DEA
Certificate of Registration, BA4361426, issued to Julian A. Abbey, 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 immediately.
Dated: February 28, 2007.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-4237 Filed 3-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
NOTICE: This is an
unofficial version. An official version of these publications may be obtained
directly from the Government Printing Office (GPO).
|