Notice2025-12702
Andrew Jones, M.D.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
July 9, 2025
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 129 (Wednesday, July 9, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 9, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30265-30266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12702]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 25-22]
Andrew Jones, M.D.; Decision and Order
On December 9, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Andrew Jones, M.D.,
of Houston, Texas (Respondent). OSC, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the
revocation of Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration Nos.
FJ3614826 and FJ9984154, alleging that Respondent is ``without
authority to prescribe, administer, dispense, or otherwise 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 January 8, 2025, Respondent filed a request for a hearing and
filed a Supplemental Answer to the allegations in the OSC. On January
23, 2025, the Government filed a Motion for Summary Disposition, to
which Respondent filed a Notice of Filing of Evidence and Response to
the Government's Motion for Summary Disposition on February 5, 2025. On
February 11, 2025, Administrative Law Judge Teresa A. Wallbaum (the
ALJ) granted the Government's Motion for Summary Disposition and
recommended the revocation of Respondent's registrations, 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 7. 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 or about April 4, 2024, the Texas Medical Board temporarily
restricted Respondent's Texas medical license. RD, at 3.\1\ Respondent
is restricted from possessing, administering, distributing, or
prescribing controlled substances in the State of Texas. Id. According
to Texas online records, of which the Agency takes official notice,
Respondent's Texas medical license is active; however, it remains
restricted.\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).
Accordingly, the Agency finds that Respondent does not have the state
authority to handle controlled substances in Texas, the state in which
he is registered with DEA.\3\
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\1\ See also Government's Notice of Filing of Evidence and
Motion for Summary Disposition, Exhibit 1, at 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).
\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 Respondent, as of the date of this Order, is not licensed to
practice medicine in Texas. Respondent may dispute this fact 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#b5d1d0d49bd4d1d1da9bd4c1c1dac7dbd0ccc6f5d1d0d49bd2dac3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="244041450a4540404b0a4550504b564a415d57644041450a434b52">[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
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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 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, 11920 (1988);
Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR at 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. Sec. 481.002(12) (West 2025). 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.
at Sec. 481.002(39)(A).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Respondent
lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Texas. As discussed
above, an individual must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a
controlled substance in Texas. Thus, because Respondent has no state
authority to handle controlled substances in Texas, Respondent is not
eligible to maintain a DEA registration in Texas. RD, at 8.
Accordingly, the Agency will order that Respondent'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 Certificate of Registration Nos.
FJ3614826 and FJ9984154 issued to Andrew Jones, 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 Andrew Jones,
M.D., to renew or modify these registrations, as well as any other
pending application of Andrew Jones, M.D., for additional registration
in Texas. This Order is effective August 8, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
July 1, 2025, by Acting Administrator Robert J. Murphy. 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. 2025-12702 Filed 7-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 9, 2025.
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