Notice2025-02341
James T. Craig, D.D.S.; 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
February 7, 2025
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 25 (Friday, February 7, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 25 (Friday, February 7, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9169-9170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02341]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
James T. Craig, D.D.S.; Decision and Order
On May 24, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to James T. Craig,
D.D.S., of Aurora, Colorado (Registrant). Request for Final Agency
Action (RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 2, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. FC0032348,
alleging that Registrant's registration should be revoked because
Registrant is ``currently without authority to prescribe, administer,
dispense, or otherwise handle controlled substances in Colorado, the
state in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21
U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).\1\
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\1\ According to Agency records, Registrant's registration
expired on August 31, 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 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 July
18, 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 May 26, 2023,
Registrant was personally served a copy of the OSC at the Arapahoe
County Detention Center in Centennial, Colorado, where Registrant
remained incarcerated. RFAAX 3, 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 3; 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
March 23, 2023, Registrant's Colorado dental license was suspended.
RFAAX 2, at 1-2. According to Colorado online records, of which the
Agency takes official notice, Registrant's Colorado dentist license is
revoked.\3\ Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations License
Search, <a href="https://apps2.colorado.gov/dora/licensing/lookup/licenselookup.aspx">https://apps2.colorado.gov/dora/licensing/lookup/licenselookup.aspx</a> (last visited date of signature of this Order).
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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 the DEA Office of the Administrator,
Drug Enforcement Administration at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#791d1c1857181d1d1657180d0d160b171c000a391d1c18571e160f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="056160642b6461616a2b6471716a776b607c76456160642b626a73">[email protected]</span></a>.
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Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed to
practice as a dentist in Colorado, the state in which he is registered
with DEA.
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).\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, M.D., 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, M.D., 43 FR 27617.
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According to Colorado statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver a
controlled substance to an ultimate user,
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patient, 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.'' Colo. Rev. Stat. section 18-18-102(9) (2024). Further, a
``practitioner'' means a ``physician . . . or other person licensed,
registered, or otherwise permitted, by this state, to distribute,
dispense, conduct research with respect to, administer, or to use in
teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled substance in the course of
professional practice or research.'' Id. section 18-18-102(29).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
lacks authority to practice as a dentist in Colorado. As discussed
above an individual must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a
controlled substance in Colorado. Thus, because Registrant lacks
authority to practice as a dentist in Colorado and, therefore, is not
authorized to handle controlled substances in Colorado, 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.
FC0032348, issued to James T. Craig, D.D.S. 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 James T. Craig, D.D.S., to
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of James T. Craig, D.D.S., for additional registration in
Colorado. This Order is effective March 10, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
January 31, 2025, by Acting Administrator Derek Maltz. 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. 2025-02341 Filed 2-6-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 7, 2025.
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