Notice2025-05165
Harvey Leslie, M.D.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
March 27, 2025
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 58 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 58 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13885-13886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05165]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Harvey Leslie, M.D.; Decision and Order
On August 19, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Harvey Leslie, M.D.,
of Decatur, Georgia (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action
(RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 2, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of
Registrant's Certification of Registration (COR) No. FL2241305,
alleging that Registration'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 [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.
(citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not request a hearing.
RFAA, at 3.\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 24, 2024, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was sufficient. Specifically, the included Declaration
from a DEA Diversion Investigator indicates that on August 28, 2024,
a copy of the OSC was personally served on Registrant at his
registered address. RFAAX 6, at 2; see also RFAAX 4 (Report of
Investigation indicating issuance of OSC).
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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 4; 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
February 9, 2024, Registrant's Georgia medical license was revoked.
RFAAX 2, at 2. According to Georgia online records, of which Agency
takes official notice, Registrant's Georgia medical license remains
revoked.\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 he is registered
with DEA.\3\
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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).
\3\ 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.'' The material fact here is
that Registrant, as of the date of this decision, is not licensed to
practice medicine in Georgia. 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#721617135c1316161d5c1306061d001c170b01321617135c151d04"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0a6e6f6b246b6e6e65246b7e7e6578646f73794a6e6f6b246d657c">[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).\4\
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\4\ 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). 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 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
[[Page 13886]]
necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.'' Ga. Code Ann.
section 16-13-21(9) (2024). 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. at
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.
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.
FL2241305, issued to Harvey Leslie, 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 Harvey Leslie, M.D., to renew
or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application
of Harvey Leslie, M.D., for additional registration in Georgia. This
Order is effective April 28, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
March 20, 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. 2025-05165 Filed 3-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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