[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