Notice2022-21274
Thomas Blair, M.D.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
September 30, 2022
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 189 (Friday, September 30, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 189 (Friday, September 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59455-59456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21274]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Thomas Blair, M.D.; Decision and Order
On May 25, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter,
DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to
Thomas Blair, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). Request for Final Agency
Action (hereinafter, RFAA), Exhibit (hereinafter, RFAAX) D (OSC), at 1,
3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of
Registration No. AB1253880 at the registered address of 725 W. La Veta
Avenue, Suite 110, Orange, CA 92868. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that
Registrant's registration should be revoked because Registrant is
``without authority to prescribe controlled substances in the State of
California, the state in which [he is] registered with the 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 offered by the Government in its RFAA, which
was submitted on September 8, 2022.\1\
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\1\ Based on a Declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator,
the Agency finds that the Government's service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. RFAA, Declaration 1, at 2. 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 1, 3; see also 21 CFR 1301.43 and
21 U.S.C. 824(c)(2).
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Findings of Fact
On November 2, 2021, an Administrative Law Judge from the State of
California, Office of Administrative Hearings, issued a Decision and
Order suspending Registrant's California medical license. RFAAX B, at
2, 35. According to California's online records, of which the Agency
takes official notice, Registrant's license is still suspended.\2\
Medical Board of California License Verification, <a href="https://www.mbc.ca.gov/License-Verification">https://www.mbc.ca.gov/License-Verification</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 California,
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#cda9a8ace3aca9a9a2e3acb9b9a2bfa3a8b4be8da9a8ace3b8bea9a2a7e3aaa2bb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0d69686c236c696962236c7979627f6368747e4d69686c23787e696267236a627b">[email protected]</span></a>.
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Discussion
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General is authorized
to
[[Page 59456]]
suspend or revoke a registration issued under section 823 of the 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 California statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver a
controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or
pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the
prescribing, furnishing, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary
to prepare the substance for that delivery.'' Cal. Health & Safety Code
Sec. 11010 (West 2022). Further, a ``practitioner'' means a person
``licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, to distribute,
dispense, conduct research with respect to, or administer, a controlled
substance in the course of professional practice or research in this
state.'' Id. at Sec. 11026(c).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in California. As
discussed above, a physician must be a licensed practitioner to
dispense a controlled substance in California. Thus, because Registrant
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in California and,
therefore, is not currently authorized to handle controlled substances
in California, 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.
AB1253880 issued to Thomas Blair, 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 Thomas Blair, M.D., to renew or modify
this registration, as well as any other pending application of Thomas
Blair, M.D., for additional registration in California. This Order is
effective October 31, 2022.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
September 26, 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. 2022-21274 Filed 9-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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