Notice2023-23953
Demille W. Madoux, 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
October 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 209 (Tuesday, October 31, 2023)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74522-74523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23953]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Demille W. Madoux, M.D.; Decision and Order
On January 11, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Demille W. Madoux,
M.D. (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (RFAA), Exhibit
(RFAAX) 2, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's
Certificate of Registration No. BM0663523 at the registered address of
13921 N Meridian Ave., Suite 100, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73134. 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 Oklahoma, the state in which [he
is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing, inter alia, 21 U.S.C.
824(a)(3)).
The OSC notified Registrant of his right to file with DEA a written
request for hearing, and that if he failed to file such a request, he
would be deemed to be in default. Id. at 2-3 (citing 21 CFR 1301.43).
Here, Registrant did not request a hearing. RFAA, at 1.\1\ ``A default,
unless excused, shall be deemed to constitute a waiver of the
[registrant's] right to a hearing and an admission of the factual
allegations of the [OSC].'' 21 CFR 1301.43(e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated
April 25, 2023, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. Specifically, the included copy of the
certified mail return receipt indicates that on March 11, 2023,
Registrant was personally served with the OSC at his personal
address. RFAAX 1, at 8.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further, ``[i]n the event that a registrant . . . is deemed to be
in
[[Page 74523]]
default . . . DEA may then file a request for final agency action with
the Administrator, along with a record to support its request. In such
circumstances, the Administrator may enter a default final order
pursuant to [21 CFR] Sec. 1316.67.'' Id. Sec. 1301.43(f)(1). Here,
the Government has requested final agency action based on Registrant's
default pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(c) and (f). RFAA, at 1.
Findings of Fact
The Agency finds that, in light of Registrant's default, the
factual allegations in the OSC are admitted. According to the OSC, on
April 8, 2022, Registrant ``entered into an Agreement with the State of
Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision `not to practice in
any manner as a Medical Doctor in the State of Oklahoma,' '' and ``[o]n
October 31, 2022, [Registrant's] State of Oklahoma controlled substance
registration expired.'' RFAAX 2, at 2.
According to Oklahoma's online records, of which the Agency takes
official notice, Registrant is not ``Registered to Dispense,'' and
Registrant's Oklahoma controlled substance license remains inactive.\2\
Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, Search Licenses,
<a href="https://www.okmedicalboard.org/search">https://www.okmedicalboard.org/search</a> (last visited date of signature
of this Order); Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control, Registrant Search, <a href="https://obnddc.us.thentiacloud.net/webs/obnddc/register/#">https://obnddc.us.thentiacloud.net/webs/obnddc/register/#</a> (last visited date of signature of this Order).
Therefore, the Agency finds that Registrant is not authorized to
dispense or handle controlled substances in Oklahoma, the state in
which he is registered with DEA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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 the DEA Office of the Administrator,
Drug Enforcement Administration at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f2969793dc9396969ddc9386869d809c978b81b2969793dc959d84"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c8acada9e6a9acaca7e6a9bcbca7baa6adb1bb88acada9e6afa7be">[email protected]</span></a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discussion
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General is authorized
to suspend or revoke a registration issued under 21 U.S.C. 823 ``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, 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, D.O., 76 FR 71371, 71372 (2011), pet. for
rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton,
D.O., 43 FR 27616, 27617 (1978).\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the
Controlled Substances Act. 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). Because Congress has clearly mandated that a
practitioner possess state authority in order to be deemed a
practitioner under the CSA, 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, D.O.,
71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, D.O., 58 FR 51104,
51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, D.O., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988);
Frederick Marsh Blanton, 43 FR at 27617.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pursuant to the Oklahoma's Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances
Act, ``[e]very person who manufactures, distributes, dispenses,
prescribes, administers or uses for scientific purposes any controlled
dangerous substance within or into this state . . . shall obtain a
registration issued by the Director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of
Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, in accordance with rules
promulgated by the Director.'' Okla. Stat. tit. 63, section 2-
302(A).\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Although there are limited circumstances under which a
person ``may lawfully possess controlled dangerous substances''
without a registration issued by the Director of the Oklahoma State
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, based on the
information furnished by the Government, none are applicable here.
Id. Section 2-302(H).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here, the evidence in the record is that Registrant currently lacks
authority to handle controlled substances in Oklahoma because his
Oklahoma controlled substance license has expired. As already
discussed, a person must hold a valid controlled substance license to
dispense a controlled substance in Oklahoma, subject to limited
exceptions. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to handle
controlled substances in Oklahoma, 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.
BM0663523 issued to Demille W. Madoux, 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 Demille W. Madoux, M.D., to
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of Demille W. Madoux, M.D., for additional registration in
Oklahoma. This Order is effective November 30, 2023.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
October 20, 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. 2023-23953 Filed 10-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 31, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.