[Federal Register: December 19, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 243)]
[Notices]
[Page 71955-71956]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19de07-113]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 06-44]
Richard Carino, M.D.; Revocation of Registration
On December 23, 2005, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to
Show Cause to Richard Carino, M.D. (Respondent), of Port Richey,
Florida. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's
DEA Certificates of Registration, BC5048043 and BC7752024, as a
practitioner, on the ground that he had committed acts which rendered
his registration ``inconsistent with the public interest.'' Show Cause
Order at 1 (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f) and 824(a)(4)).
More specifically, the Show Cause Order alleged that between
September 2003 and July 2004, Respondent, ``while working for
iPharmacy.MD,'' had issued between ``100 to 2000 prescriptions per
month over the internet, most'' of which were for controlled
substances. Id. at 5. The Show Cause Order alleged that Respondent
``never saw the customers and * * * had no prior doctor-patient
relationship with them,'' that he did not ``conduct physical
examinations of the customers and [that he] did not create or maintain
patient records.'' Id. The Show Cause Order further alleged that
``[t]he only information [Respondent] reviewed prior to issuing a
prescription was a questionnaire completed by the customer, and [that
he] never consulted with the customer's primary care physician or
obtained prior medical records.'' Id. at 5-6. The Show Cause Order thus
alleged that ``[t]he controlled substance prescriptions issued by
[Respondent] over the internet were not
[[Page 71956]]
issued in the usual course of [his] professional practice, or for a
legitimate medical purpose, in violation of 21 CFR 1306.04 and 21
U.S.C. 841(a).'' Id. at 5.
Respondent timely requested a hearing on the allegations. The
matter was assigned to Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Mary Ellen
Bittner, who conducted a hearing on March 27, 2007, in Tampa, Florida.
On July 16, 2007, while the ALJ's decision was still pending, the
Government moved for summary disposition. The basis of the motion was
that on April 17, 2007, the Florida Board of Medicine had issued a
final order which indefinitely suspended Respondent's state medical
license and that because Respondent was no longer authorized to handle
controlled substances under state law, he was not entitled to hold a
DEA registration. Gov. Mot. for Summ. Disp. at 2. The Government
supported its motion with a copy of the Florida Board's order. See id.
at Attachment.
In his response to the motion, Respondent stated that he ``does
not, and cannot, dispute [the] assertion'' that he ``is no longer
licensed to practice medicine in the State of Florida.'' Respondent's
Resp. at 1. Respondent also acknowledged that ``the Government's motion
* * * is well taken.'' Id.
On August 7, 2007, the ALJ issued her recommended decision. Finding
that Respondent had ``concede[d] that he is without state authority * *
* to handle controlled substances * * * in Florida,'' the ALJ concluded
that there were no material facts in dispute. ALJ Dec. at 3. Noting
that this Agency has consistently held that a practitioner ``must be
currently authorized to dispense controlled substances `in the course
of professional practice,' '' in order to hold a DEA registration, the
ALJ granted the Government's motion and recommended that Respondent's
registration be revoked. ALJ at 2-3 (quoting 21 U.S.C. 802(21)). The
ALJ then forwarded the record to me for final agency action.
Having considered the record in this matter, I adopt the ALJ's
recommended decision in its entirety. I find that although Respondent's
registrations expired on August 31, 2005, Respondent submitted timely
renewal applications for each registration and therefore, his
registrations remain in effect pending the issuance of this Final
Order. See 5 U.S.C. 558(c); GX 1. I also find that effective on April
17, 2007, the Florida Board of Medicine issued a final order which
indefinitely suspended Respondent's medical license. See Gov. Mot. for
Summ. Disp., Attachment at 1-3. I therefore further find that
Respondent is without authority under Florida law to dispense or
otherwise handle controlled substances in the course of medical
practice.
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.''). As these provisions make plain,
possessing authority to dispense a controlled substance under the laws
of the State in which a physician practices medicine is an essential
condition for holding a DEA registration.
Accordingly, DEA has repeatedly held that the CSA requires the
revocation of a registration issued to a practitioner whose state
license 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''). Because Respondent's Florida medical license has been
indefinitely suspended, he is not entitled to maintain his DEA
registrations.
Order
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) & 0.104, I hereby order that DEA
Certificates of Registration, BC5048043 and BC7752024, issued to
Richard Carino, M.D., be, and they hereby are, revoked. I further order
that the pending applications of Richard Carino, M.D., for renewal or
modification of each registration be, and they hereby are, denied. This
order is effective January 18, 2008.
Dated: December 7, 2007.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-24606 Filed 12-18-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P