Notice2025-05166
Willard J. Davis, D.O.; 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 13881-13882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05166]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 25-19]
Willard J. Davis, D.O.; Decision and Order
On November 13, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Willard J. Davis,
D.O., of Round Rock, Texas (Respondent). OSC, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed
the revocation of Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration No.
BD9134254, alleging that Respondent's DEA registration should be
revoked because Respondent is ``without authority to handle controlled
substances in the State of Texas, the state in which [he is] registered
with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
On December 10, 2024 Respondent filed a request for a hearing. On
December 30, 2024, the Government filed a Motion for Summary
Disposition, which Respondent opposed. On January 23, 2025,
Administrative Law Judge Teresa A. Wallbaum (the ALJ) granted the
Government's Motion for Summary Disposition and recommended the
revocation of Respondent's registration, finding that because
Respondent lacks state authority to handle controlled substances in
Texas, the state in which he is registered with DEA, ``[t]here is no
genuine issue of material fact in this case.'' 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 May 16, 2024, the Texas Medical Board suspended Respondent's
Texas medical license. RD, at 3.\1\ According to Texas online records,
of which the Agency takes official notice, Respondent's Texas medical
license remains suspended.\2\ Texas Medical Board Healthcare Provider
Search, <a href="https://profile.tmb.state.tx.us">https://profile.tmb.state.tx.us</a> (last visited date of signature
of this Order).
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\1\ See also Government's Notice of Filing of Evidence and
Motion for Summary Disposition, Exhibit 1, at 3-6.
\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).
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Accordingly, the Agency finds that Respondent is not currently
licensed to
[[Page 13882]]
practice medicine in Texas, the state in which he is registered with
DEA.\3\
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\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 Texas. 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#91f5f4f0bff0f5f5febff0e5e5fee3fff4e8e2d1f5f4f0bff6fee7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c5a1a0a4eba4a1a1aaeba4b1b1aab7aba0bcb685a1a0a4eba2aab3">[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 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, 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 Texas statute, ``dispense'' means ``the delivery of a
controlled substance in the course of professional practice or
research, by a practitioner or person acting under the lawful order of
a practitioner, to an ultimate user or research subject. The term
includes the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or
compounding necessary to prepare the substance for delivery.'' Tex.
Health & Safety Code Ann. section 481.002(12) (2024). Further, a
``practitioner'' includes ``a physician . . . or other person licensed,
registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, analyze,
conduct research with respect to, or administer a controlled substance
in the course of professional practice or research in this state.'' Id.
section 481.002(39)(A).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Respondent
lacks authority to practice medicine in Texas. As discussed above, an
individual must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled
substance in Texas. Thus, because Respondent lacks authority to
practice medicine in Texas and, therefore, is not authorized to handle
controlled substances in Texas, Respondent is not eligible to maintain
a DEA registration. RD, at 6. Accordingly, the Agency will order that
Respondent'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.
BD9134254 issued to Willard J. Davis, D.O. 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 Willard J. Davis, D.O., to
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of Willard J. Davis, D.O., for additional registration in
Texas. 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. 2025-05166 Filed 3-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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