Notice2023-05807
Shahid Masood, M.D.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
March 22, 2023
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17265-17266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05807]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Shahid Masood, M.D.; Decision and Order
On July 29, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter,
DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to
Shahid Masood, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). Request for Final Agency
Action (hereinafter, RFAA), Exhibit (hereinafter, RFAAX) 2 (OSC), at 1,
3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of
Registration No. FM7946481 at the registered address of 667 86th Place,
Downers Grove, IL 60516. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that Registrant's
registration should be revoked because Registrant is ``currently
without authority to handle controlled substances in the State of
Illinois, the state in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2
(citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).\1\
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\1\ According to Agency records, Registrant's DEA Certificate of
Registration No. FM7946481 expired on January 31, 2022, and
Registrant's request for renewal of his registration was received on
January 27, 2022.
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The Agency makes the following findings of fact based on the
uncontroverted evidence submitted by the Government in its RFAA dated
February 7, 2023.\2\
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\2\ Based on the Declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator,
the Agency finds that the Government's service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. RFAAX 3, 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
corrective action plan and therefore has waived any such rights.
RFAA, at 2-3; RFAAX 3, at 3; see also 21 CFR 1301.43 and 21 U.S.C.
824(c)(2).
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Findings of Fact
On November 9, 2021, the State of Illinois Department of Financial
and Professional Regulation issued an Order suspending both
Registrant's Illinois medical license and Registrant's Illinois
controlled substance license. RFAAX 3, Attachment B, at 1, 8. According
to Illinois online records, of which the Agency takes official notice,
both Registrant's Illinois medical license and Registrant's Illinois
controlled substance license are still suspended.\3\ Illinois
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, License Lookup,
<a href="https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx">https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx</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 nor in the handling of controlled substances in Illinois, the
state in which he is registered with the DEA.
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\3\ 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 the DEA Office of the Administrator,
Drug Enforcement Administration at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#107475713e7174747f3e7164647f627e756963507475713e777f66"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="47232226692623232869263333283529223e340723222669202831">[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
[[Page 17266]]
Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27616, 27617 (1978).\4\
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\4\ 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(g)(1) (this
section, formerly Sec. 823(f), was redesignated as part of the
Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, Public Law
117-215, 136 Stat. 2257 (2022)). 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 71371 and 71372; 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 27617.
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Pursuant to the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, a
``practitioner'' means ``a physician licensed to practice medicine in
all its branches . . . or other person licensed, registered, or
otherwise lawfully permitted by the United States or this State to
distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, administer or
use in teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled substance in the
course of professional practice or research.'' 720 Ill. Comp. Stat.
Ann. 570/102(kk) (2022). Further, the Illinois Controlled Substances
Act requires that ``[e]very person who manufactures, distributes, or
dispenses any controlled substances . . . must obtain a registration
issued by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in
accordance with its rules.'' Id. at 570/302(a).\5\
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\5\ The Illinois Controlled Substances Act also authorizes the
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to discipline a
practitioner holding a controlled substance license, stating that
``[a] registration under Section 303 to manufacture, distribute, or
dispense a controlled substance . . . may be denied, refused
renewal, suspended, or revoked by the Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation.'' Id. at 570/304(a).
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Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Illinois
as both his Illinois medical license and his Illinois controlled
substance license are suspended. As already discussed, a practitioner
must hold a valid controlled substance license to dispense a controlled
substance in Illinois. Thus, because Registrant lacks state authority
to handle controlled substances, 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.
FM7946481 issued to Shahid Masood, M.D. Further, pursuant to 28 CFR
0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(1), I
hereby deny any pending applications of Shahid Masood, M.D., to renew
or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application
of Shahid Masood, M.D., for additional registration in Illinois. This
Order is effective April 21, 2023.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
March 15, 2023, 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. 2023-05807 Filed 3-21-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 22, 2023.
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