Notice2022-19989
Reginald James Newsome, M.D.; Decision and Order
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 15, 2022
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 178 (Thursday, September 15, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 178 (Thursday, September 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56708-56709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19989]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Reginald James Newsome, M.D.; Decision and Order
On March 16, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration
(hereinafter, DEA or Government)
[[Page 56709]]
issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to Reginald James
Newsome, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). OSC, at 1 and 4. The OSC
proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No.
FN0738344 at the registered address of 8865 Davis Blvd., Suite 100A,
Keller, Texas 76248. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that Registrant's
registration should be revoked because Registrant is ``without
authority to handle controlled substances in the State of Texas, the
state in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21
U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
The Agency makes the following findings of fact based on the
uncontroverted evidence submitted by the Government in its Request for
Final Agency Action (RFAA), submitted July 18, 2022.\1\
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\1\ Based on the Declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator
that the Government submitted with its RFAA, the Agency finds that
the Government's service of the OSC on Registrant was adequate.
RFAA, Exhibit (hereinafter, RFAAX) B, at 2-3. Further, based on the
Government's assertions in its RFAA, the Agency finds that more than
thirty days have passed since Registrant was served with the OSC and
Registrant has neither requested a hearing nor submitted a written
statement or corrective action plan and therefore has waived any
such rights. RFAA, at 3; see also 21 CFR 1301.43(d) and 21 U.S.C.
824(c)(2)(C).
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Findings of Fact
On February 15, 2022, the Texas Medical Board issued an Order of
Temporary Suspension suspending Registrant's license to practice
medicine in Texas. RFAAX C (Temporary Suspension Order), at 6.
According to Texas's online records, of which the Agency takes official
notice, Registrant's Texas medical license is still suspended.\2\ Texas
Medical Board Verification, <a href="https://profile.tmb.state.tx.us/Search.aspx?d2678354-aafa-4f28-a2a0-96b1f74b617a">https://profile.tmb.state.tx.us/Search.aspx?d2678354-aafa-4f28-a2a0-96b1f74b617a</a> (last visited date of
signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant
is not currently licensed to engage in the practice of medicine in
Texas, the state in which he is registered with the DEA.
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\2\ Under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency ``may take
official notice of facts at any stage in a proceeding--even in the
final decision.'' United States Department of Justice, Attorney
General's Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act 80 (1947) (Wm.
W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc., Reprint 1979). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 556(e),
``[w]hen an agency decision rests on official notice of a material
fact not appearing in the evidence in the record, a party is
entitled, on timely request, to an opportunity to show the
contrary.'' Accordingly, Registrant may dispute the Agency's finding
by filing a properly supported motion for reconsideration of
findings of fact within fifteen calendar days of the date of this
Order. Any such motion and response shall be filed and served by
email to the other party and to Office of the Administrator, Drug
Enforcement Administration at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a2c6c7c38cc3c6c6cd8cc3d6d6cdd0ccc7dbd1e2c6c7c38cd7d1c6cdc88cc5cdd4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="27434246094643434809465353485549425e546743424609525443484d09404851">[email protected]</span></a>.
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Discussion
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General is authorized
to suspend or revoke a registration issued under section 823 of the
Controlled Substances Act (hereinafter, CSA) ``upon a finding that the
registrant . . . has had his State license or registration suspended .
. . [or] revoked . . . by competent State authority and is no longer
authorized by State law to engage in the . . . dispensing of controlled
substances.'' With respect to a practitioner, the DEA has also long
held that the possession of authority to dispense controlled substances
under the laws of the state in which a practitioner engages in
professional practice is a fundamental condition for obtaining and
maintaining a practitioner's registration. See, e.g., James L. Hooper,
M.D., 76 FR 71371 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th
Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27616 27617 (1978).\3\
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\3\ This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the
CSA. First, Congress defined the term ``practitioner'' to mean ``a
physician . . . or other person 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.'' 21 U.S.C.
802(21). Second, in setting the requirements for obtaining a
practitioner's registration, Congress directed that ``[t]he Attorney
General shall register practitioners . . . if the applicant is
authorized to dispense . . . controlled substances under the laws of
the State in which he practices.'' 21 U.S.C. 823(f). Because
Congress has clearly mandated that a practitioner possess state
authority in order to be deemed a practitioner under the CSA, the
DEA has held repeatedly that revocation of a practitioner's
registration is the appropriate sanction whenever he is no longer
authorized to dispense controlled substances under the laws of the
state in which he practices. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, 76 FR at
71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, M.D., 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006);
Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts,
M.D., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, 43 FR at
27617.
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According to Texas statute, ``dispense'' means ``the delivery of a
controlled substance in the course of professional practice or
research, by a practitioner or person acting under the lawful order of
a practitioner, to an ultimate user or research subject. The term
includes the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling or
compounding necessary to prepare the substance for delivery.'' Tex.
Health & Safety Code Sec. 481.002(12) (2022). Further, a
``practitioner'' means a ``a physician, . . . licensed, registered, or
otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, analyze, conduct research
with respect to, or administer a controlled substance in the course of
professional practice or research in this state.'' Id. at Sec.
481.002(39)(A).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Texas. A person must
be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in Texas.
Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in Texas
and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in
Texas, Registrant is not eligible to maintain a DEA registration.
Accordingly, the Agency will order that Registrant's DEA registration
be revoked.
Order
Pursuant to 28 CFR 0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21
U.S.C. 824(a), I hereby revoke DEA Certificate of Registration No.
FN0738344 issued to Reginald James Newsome, M.D. Further, pursuant to
28 CFR 0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(f), I
hereby deny any pending applications of Reginald James Newsome, M.D.,
to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of Reginald James Newsome, M.D., for additional
registration in Texas. This Order is effective October 17, 2022.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
September 8, 2022, by Administrator Anne Milgram. That document with
the original signature and date is maintained by DEA. For
administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of
the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DEA Federal
Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the
document in electronic format for publication, as an official document
of DEA. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect
of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Heather Achbach,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Drug Enforcement Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-19989 Filed 9-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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