Notice2024-16213
Carrie L. Madej, DO; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
July 24, 2024
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 142 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59933-59934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16213]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Carrie L. Madej, DO; Decision and Order
On May 15, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Carrie L. Madej,
D.O. (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (RFAA), Exhibit
(RFAAX) 1, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's
Certificate of Registration No. FM6088997 at the registered address of
527 Luther Bailey Road, Senoia, Georgia 30276. Id. at 1. The OSC
alleged that Registrant's registration should be revoked because
Registrant is ``currently without authority to prescribe, administer,
dispense, or otherwise handle controlled substances in the state of
Georgia,'' the state in which Registrant is registered with DEA. Id. at
1-2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
The OSC notified Registrant of her right to file with DEA a written
request for hearing, and that if she failed to file such a request, she
would be deemed to have waived her right to a hearing and be in
default. Id. at 2 (citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not
request a hearing. RFAA, at 2.\1\ ``A default, unless excused, shall be
deemed to constitute a waiver of the registrant's/applicant's right to
a hearing and an admission of the factual allegations of the [OSC].''
21 CFR 1301.43(e).
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\1\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated
October 12, 2023, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on the
Registrant was adequate. Specifically, the submitted Declaration
from a DEA Diversion Investigator indicates that Registrant was
personally served with the OSC on May 25, 2023. RFAAX 2, at 1.
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Further, ``[i]n the event that a registrant . . . is deemed to be
in 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), (f), 1301.46. RFAA, at 1; see
also 21 CFR 1316.67.
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
January 4, 2023, Registrant surrendered her Georgia medical license,
with the surrender made effective on January 6, 2023. RFAAX 1, at 1.
According to Georgia online records, of which the Agency takes official
notice, Registrant's Georgia medical license remains ``Voluntarily
Surrendered.'' \2\ Georgia Composite Medical Board License Search,
<a href="https://gcmb.mylicense.com/verification">https://gcmb.mylicense.com/verification</a> (last visited date of signature
of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not
licensed to practice medicine in Georgia, the state in which she is
registered with 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 DEA Office of the Administrator,
Drug Enforcement Administration at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e0848581ce8184848fce8194948f928e859993a0848581ce878f96"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="77131216591613131859160303180519120e043713121659101801">[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 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\
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\3\ This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the
Controlled Substances Act (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, Pub. L. 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,
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
71371-72; 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
27617.
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According to Georgia 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, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding
necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.'' Ga. Code Ann.
section 16-13-21(9) (2023). Further, a ``practitioner'' means a
``physician . . . or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise
authorized under the laws of [Georgia] to distribute, dispense, conduct
research with respect to, or administer a controlled substance in the
course of professional practice or research in [Georgia].'' Id. section
16-13-21(23)(A).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
lacks authority to practice medicine in Georgia. As discussed above, a
physician must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled
substance in Georgia. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to
practice medicine in Georgia and, therefore, is not authorized to
handle controlled substances in Georgia, Registrant is not eligible to
maintain a DEA registration. Accordingly, the Agency will order that
Registrant's DEA registration be revoked.
[[Page 59934]]
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.
FM6088997 issued to Carrie Madej, D.O. 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 Carrie Madej, D.O., to renew or
modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of
Carrie Madej, D.O., for additional registration in Georgia. This Order
is effective August 23, 2024.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
July 15, 2024, 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. 2024-16213 Filed 7-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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