Notice2024-31329
Jeffrey W. Young, Jr., N.P.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
December 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 106591-106592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31329]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Jeffrey W. Young, Jr., N.P.; Decision and Order
On June 8, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Jeffrey W. Young,
Jr., N.P., of Jackson, Tennessee (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. MY1093424,
alleging that Registrant's registration should be revoked because
Registrant is ``currently without authority to handle controlled
substances in Tennessee, the state in which [he is] registered with
DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
The OSC notified Registrant of his right to file 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
2-3 (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 June
11, 2024, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on Registrant was
adequate. Specifically, the included Declaration from a DEA
Diversion Investigator (DI) indicates that on June 14, 2021, a DEA
Task Force Officer (TFO) personally served a copy of the OSC to
Registrant at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in Mason,
Tennessee, where Registrant remained incarcerated. RFAAX 3, at 2-3,
Attachment C.
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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(e). 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
September 30, 2019, Registrant's Tennessee registered nurse license and
Tennessee advanced practice registered nurse certificate both expired.
RFAAX 2, 2. According to Tennessee online records, of which the Agency
takes official notice, both Registrant's Tennessee registered nurse
license and Tennessee advanced practice registered nurse certificate
are revoked.\2\ NURSYS License Verification Search, <a href="https://www.nursys.com/LQC/LQCSearch.aspx">https://www.nursys.com/LQC/LQCSearch.aspx</a> (last visited date of signature of
this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not
licensed to practice as a nurse
[[Page 106592]]
practitioner in Tennessee, the state in which he 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 the DEA Office of the Administrator,
Drug Enforcement Administration at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a6c2c3c788c7c2c2c988c7d2d2c9d4c8c3dfd5e6c2c3c788c1c9d0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="82e6e7e3ace3e6e6edace3f6f6edf0ece7fbf1c2e6e7e3ace5edf4">[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.
Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243, 270 (2006) (``The Attorney General
can register a physician to dispense controlled substances `if the
applicant is authorized to dispense . . . controlled substances under
the laws of the State in which he practices.' . . . The very definition
of a `practitioner' eligible to prescribe includes physicians
`licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by the United States or
the jurisdiction in which he practices' to dispense controlled
substances. Sec. 802(21).''). The Agency has applied these principles
consistently. 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, 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, M.D., 76 FR at 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, 11,920 (1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR at 27617.
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According to Tennessee 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.'' Tenn. Code Ann.
Sec. 39-17-402(7) (2024). Further, a ``practitioner'' means ``a
physician . . . or other person licensed, registered or otherwise
permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to or
administer a controlled substance in the course of professional
practice or research in [the] state.'' Id. Sec. 39-17-402(23)(A).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
lacks authority to practice as a nurse practitioner in Tennessee. As
discussed above, an individual must be a licensed practitioner to
dispense a controlled substance in Tennessee. Thus, because Registrant
lacks authority to practice as a nurse practitioner in Tennessee and,
therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in
Tennessee, 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 CFR0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21
U.S.C. 824(a), I hereby revoke DEA Certificate of Registration No.
MY1093424, issued to Jeffrey W. Young, Jr., N.P. 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 Jeffrey W. Young, Jr., N.P.,
to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of Jeffrey W. Young, Jr., N.P., for additional registration
in Tennessee. This Order is effective January 29, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
December 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 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. 2024-31329 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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