Notice2024-22204
Lawrence Rudolph, D.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 79310-79312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22204]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Lawrence Rudolph, D.M.D.; Decision and Order
On July 12, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show
[[Page 79311]]
Cause (OSC) to Lawrence Rudolph, D.M.D., of Pittsburgh, PA, Washington,
PA, and Cranberry TWP, PA (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action
(RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 3, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of
Registrant's Certificates of Registration Nos. FR0070538, FR7760728,
and FR7760730, alleging that Registrant's registrations should be
revoked because Registrant is ``currently without authority to
prescribe, administer, dispense, or otherwise handle controlled
substances in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the state in which [he
is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 1-2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).\1\
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\1\ According to Agency records, Registrant's registrations
expired on April 30, 2024. The fact that a registrant allows his
registration to expire during the pendency of an OSC does not impact
the Agency's jurisdiction or prerogative under the Controlled
Substances Act (CSA) to adjudicate the OSC to finality. Jeffrey D.
Olsen, M.D., 84 FR 68474, 68476-79 (2019).
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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 have waived his 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.\2\ ``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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\2\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated
March 20, 2024, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. Specifically, the submitted Declaration
from a DEA Diversion Investigator indicates that Registrant was
personally served with the OSC on August 23, 2023. RFAAX 2, at 2.
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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,
Registrant's Pennsylvania dental license expired on March 31, 2023.
RFAAX 3, at 2. According to Pennsylvania online records, of which the
Agency takes official notice, Registrant's dental license remains
expired.\3\ Pennsylvania Licensing System Verification Service, <a href="https://www.pals.pa.gov/#!/page/search">https://www.pals.pa.gov/#!/page/search</a> (last visited date of signature of this
Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed
to practice dentistry in Pennsylvania, the state in which he is
registered with 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 Office of the Administrator, Drug
Enforcement Administration at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#204445410e4144444f0e4154544f524e455953604445410e474f56"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="412524206f2025252e6f2035352e332f243832012524206f262e37">[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 27,616, 27,617 (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). 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 Pennsylvania statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver
a controlled substance, other drug or device 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 such item for that delivery.'' 35 Pa.
Stat. and Cons. Stat. Ann. Sec. 780-102(b) (West 2024). Further, a
``practitioner'' means ``a physician . . . dentist . . . or other
person licensed, registered or otherwise permitted to distribute,
dispense, conduct research with respect to or to administer a
controlled substance, other drug or device in the course of
professional practice or research in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.'' Id.
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
lacks authority to practice dentistry in Pennsylvania. As discussed
above, an individual must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a
controlled substance in Pennsylvania. Thus, because Registrant lacks
authority to practice dentistry in Pennsylvania and, therefore, is not
authorized to handle controlled substances in Pennsylvania, Registrant
is not eligible to maintain a DEA registration. Accordingly, the Agency
will order that Registrant's DEA registrations 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 Certificates of Registration Nos.
FR0070538, FR7760728, and FR7760730 issued to Lawrence Rudolph, D.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 Lawrence
Rudolph, D.M.D., to renew or modify this registration, as well as any
other pending application of Lawrence Rudolph, D.M.D., for additional
registration in Pennsylvania. This Order is effective October 28, 2024.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
September 20, 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
[[Page 79312]]
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. 2024-22204 Filed 9-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 27, 2024.
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