Notice2024-22191
Adam L. Larson, M.D.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
September 27, 2024
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 188 (Friday, September 27, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79312-79313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22191]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 24-30]
Adam L. Larson, M.D.; Decision and Order
On February 23, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Adam L. Larson,
M.D., of Draper, Utah (Respondent). OSC, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the
revocation of Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration No.
FL0432815, alleging that Respondent is ``without authority to handle
controlled substances in Utah, the state in which [he is] registered
with DEA.'' Id. at 1-2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
Respondent requested a hearing and filed an Answer. On March 15,
2024, the Government filed a Submission of Evidence and Motion for
Summary Disposition. On April 9, 2024, Administrative Law Judge Paul E.
Soeffing (the ALJ) granted the Government's Motion for Summary
Disposition and recommended the revocation of Respondent's
registration, finding that because Respondent lacks authority to handle
controlled substances in Utah, the state in which he is registered with
DEA, ``there is no other fact of consequence for this tribunal to
decide.'' Order Granting the Government's Motion for Summary
Disposition, and Recommended Rulings, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of
Law, and Decision of the Administrative Law Judge (RD), at 6.
Respondent did not file exceptions to the RD.
Having reviewed the entire record, the Agency adopts and hereby
incorporates by reference the entirety of the ALJ's rulings, findings
of fact, conclusions of law, and recommended sanction as found in the
RD and summarizes and expands upon portions thereof herein.
Findings of Fact
On January 3, 2024, Respondent surrendered his Utah medical license
and Utah controlled substance license. RD, at 3; see also Government's
Submission of Evidence and Motion for Summary Disposition, Exhibit (GX)
2, at 7, 11. According to Utah online records, of which the Agency
takes official notice, Respondent's Utah medical license and Utah
controlled substance license both remain surrendered.\1\ Utah Division
of Professional Licensing, Licensee Lookup & Verification System,
<a href="https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/search.html">https://secure.utah.gov/llv/search/search.html</a> (last visited date of
signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Respondent
is not licensed to practice medicine nor to handle controlled
substances in Utah, the state in which he is registered with DEA.\2\
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\1\ 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, Respondent 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#1d79787c337c797972337c6969726f7378646e5d79787c337a726b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2f4b4a4e014e4b4b40014e5b5b405d414a565c6f4b4a4e01484059">[email protected]</span></a>.
\2\ In his Answer, Respondent contends that the correct
registered address for his DEA Certificate of Registration No.
FL0432815 is in Arizona. Answer of Respondent [ ] and Evidence of
State Authority (Respondent's Answer), at 1., However, Agency
records show that the registered address for Respondent's DEA
Certificate of Registration FL0432815 is 12340 South 450 East,
Draper, Utah 84020.
Respondent also argues that despite lacking authority to handle
controlled substances in Utah, he has authority to handle controlled
substances elsewhere, referencing a different DEA Certificate of
Registration with a Texas address. Respondent's Answer, at 1.
Because Respondent's DEA registration at issue is based on his Utah
licenses, which have undeniably been surrendered, it is of no
consequence that he may maintain valid authority and a separate DEA
registration elsewhere. Ralph Reach, M.D., 89 FR 24036, 24037 n.5
(2024); Omar Garcia, M.D., 87 FR 32186, 32187 n.6 (2022).
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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 (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, 71372 (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(g)(1). 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
71371-72; 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
27617.
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According to Utah statute, ``[e]very person who manufactures,
produces, distributes, prescribes, dispenses, administers, conducts
research with, or performs laboratory analysis upon any controlled
substance in Schedules I through V within [the] state . . . shall
obtain a license issued by the [Division of Professional Licensing].''
Utah Code Ann. section 58-37-6(2)(a)(i) (2024).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Respondent
lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Utah because he
surrendered both his Utah medical license and his Utah controlled
substance license. As discussed above, an individual must hold a
controlled substance license to dispense a controlled substance in
Utah. Thus, because Respondent lacks authority to handle controlled
substances in Utah, Respondent is not eligible to maintain a DEA
registration in Utah. RD, at 5-6. Accordingly, the Agency will order
that Respondent's DEA registration in Utah 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.
FL0432815 issued to Adam L. Larson, 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
[[Page 79313]]
of Adam L. Larson, M.D., to renew or modify this registration, as well
as any other pending application of Adam L. Larson, M.D., for
additional registration in Utah. This Order is effective October 28,
2024.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
September 17, 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. 2024-22191 Filed 9-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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