[Federal Register: May 1, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 83)]
[Notices]
[Page 20346-20347]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01my09-76]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 09-15]
Roy Chi Lung, M.D.; Revocation of Registration
On October 22, 2008, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to
Show Cause to Roy C. Lung, M.D. (Respondent), of Fountain Valley,
California. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of
Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration, BL4971051, as a
practitioner, and the denial of any pending applications to renew or
modify his registration, on the grounds that Respondent is ``not
authorized to handle controlled substances in the state of
California,'' and that he falsified his most recent application for
renewal of his DEA registration. Show Cause Order at 1.
More specifically, the Show Cause Order alleged that effective
January 30, 2008, the Medical Board of California suspended
Respondent's license to practice medicine. Id. The Show Cause Order
thus alleged that Respondent is ``currently without authority to handle
controlled substances in the State of California, the State in which''
Respondent is registered with DEA. Id. The Show Cause Order also
alleged that on April 1, 2008, Respondent falsified his application for
renewal of his DEA registration when he answered ``no'' to the question
of whether he had ever had a state license suspended. Id. at 2.
Respondent requested a hearing on the allegations, and the matter
was assigned to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), who proceeded to
conduct pre-hearing procedures. Thereafter, the Government moved for
summary disposition on the ground that under the terms of an order of
the Medical Board of California, Respondent's state medical license was
suspended. Gov. Mot. at 1. The motion noted that the Medical Board's
Order of Interim Suspension not only suspended Respondent's license, it
expressly ``prohibited Respondent from handling controlled substances
and ordered Respondent to deliver to the Board his DEA registration.''
Id. at 3. The Government argued that there was no dispute that
Respondent's license had been suspended in California, the State in
which he maintains his DEA registration, and that under Federal Law,
DEA ``cannot register a practitioner to handle controlled substances
who is without authority to handle controlled substances in the State
in which he practices.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f)). Id. at 2.
In support of its motion, the Government attached a copy of the
Order of Interim Suspension. The Order specifically stated that
Respondent ``shall not * * * [p]ractice or attempt to practice any
aspect of medicine in the State of California * * * [nor] [p]ossess,
order, purchase, receive, prescribe, furnish, administer, or otherwise
distribute controlled substances or dangerous drugs as defined by
federal or state law.'' Johnston, Ex. Dir., v. Chi Wing Lung, M.D., OAH
No. L2008010755, Order on Ex Parte Petition for Order of Interim
Suspension, January 30, 2008, at 7. The Order also required that
Respondent ``immediately deliver to the Division of Medical Quality * *
* all Drug Enforcement Administration forms, and all Drug Enforcement
Administration permits.'' Id.
The ALJ ordered the Respondent to respond to the Government's
motion by December 9, 2008; Respondent filed his response on December
5, 2008. Respondent requested that the ALJ ``delay ruling on the
Government's motion until April 1, 2009,'' as Respondent anticipated
that the State Board would issue a final decision regarding his medical
license by then. R. Resp. at 1-2.
On December 12, 2008, the ALJ issued her Recommended Rulings,
Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision. The ALJ noted that
``Respondent himself states that his `Medical license was suspended on
an interim basis pending the recommendation of a California
Administrative Law Judge.' '' ALJ at 3. The ALJ thus concluded that
``[t]hrough the Respondent's own admission, * * * Respondent lacks the
authority to practice medicine in the State of California,'' and
``[c]onsequently, * * * lacks the ability to prescribe controlled
substances in that State.'' Id.
Because no material fact was in dispute, the ALJ determined that
there was no need for a ``plenary, administrative hearing.'' Id. at 5.
Applying the Agency's settled rule that it lacks authority under the
Controlled Substances Act to maintain a registration if the registrant
is without state authority to handle controlled substances in the State
in which he practices medicine, the ALJ concluded that ``the DEA lacks
authority to continue the Respondent's DEA registration.'' Id. at 5;
see 21 U.S.C. 823(f), 824(a)(3). The ALJ thus granted the Government's
motion for summary disposition and recommended that the
[[Page 20347]]
Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration be revoked and that any
pending renewal applications be denied. ALJ at 5-6. The ALJ then
forwarded the record to me for final agency action.
Having considered the record as a whole, I adopt the ALJ's decision
in its entirety. I find that Respondent holds a current registration
which does not expire until March 31, 2011. I also take official notice
of the records of the Medical Board of California. See 5 U.S.C. 556(e).
According to those records, effective March 30, 2009, the Medical Board
of California adopted the Proposed Decision of a state ALJ to revoke
Respondent's medical license. Thus, since the issuance of the State's
Order of Interim Suspension, Respondent has lacked authority to handle
controlled substances in California, the State in which he practices
his profession. Respondent is therefore not entitled to maintain his
DEA registration.\1\ See 21 U.S.C. 823(f), 802(21), and 824(a)(3). See
also Michael Chait, 73 FR 40382, 40383 (2008); Dominick A. Ricci, 58 FR
51104 (1993). Accordingly, Respondent's registration will be revoked.
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\1\ I note there is no evidence presented whether Respondent
complied with the Order of Immediate Suspension and did in fact
deliver his DEA registration to the California Board.
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Order
Pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(f) &
824(a), as well as by 28 CFR 0.100(b) & 0.104, I hereby order that DEA
Certificate of Registration, BL4971051, issued to Roy Chi Lung, M.D.,
be, and it hereby is, revoked. I further order that any pending
application of Roy Chi Lung, M.D., for renewal or modification of his
registration be, and it hereby is, denied. This order is effective June
1, 2009.
Dated: April 24, 2009.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-10029 Filed 4-30-09; 8:45 am]
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