Notice2025-12703
Hayriye Gok, 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 30266-30267]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12703]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Hayriye Gok, M.D.; Decision and Order
On February 20, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Hayriye Gok, M.D.,
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Registrant). Request for Final Agency
Action (RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 1, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration (COR) No.
FG3991115, alleging that Registrant is ``currently without authority to
. . . handle controlled substances in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
the state in which [she is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21
U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
The OSC notified Registrant of her right to file a written request
for hearing, and that if she failed to file such a request, she would
be deemed to have waived her 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 4.\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
April 3, 2025, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. The included declaration from a DEA
Diversion Investigator (DI) indicates that on February 20, 2025, DI
attempted to serve Registrant the OSC at her DEA registered address
and to contact her using her DEA registered telephone number, but
both attempts were unsuccessful. RFAAX 2, at 1. Later that same day,
DI successfully served Registrant the OSC via her DEA registered
email address. Id. at 1-2. Registrant responded to DI's email,
confirming receipt and stating that she ``read the [OSC],'' but she
did not request a hearing in her responses. Id. Accordingly, the
Agency finds that the Government's service of the OSC on Registrant
was adequate. See Mohammed S. Aljanaby, M.D., 82 FR 34552, 34552
(2017) (finding that service by email satisfies due process where
the email is not returned as undeliverable and other methods have
been unsuccessful); Emilio Luna, M.D., 77 FR 4829, 4830 (2012)
(same).
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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] 1316.67.'' Id. at 1301.43(f)(1). Here, the
Government has requested final agency action based on Registrant's
default pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(c) and (f), 1301.46. RFAA, at 1; 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 deemed admitted. According to the
OSC, Registrant's Pennsylvania medical license was temporarily
suspended by the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine (Board) on
November 21, 2024. RFAAX 1, at 2; see also RFAAX 3.\2\ According to
Pennsylvania online records, of which the Agency takes
[[Page 30267]]
official notice,\3\ Registrant's Pennsylvania medical license has a
status of ``Suspension.'' Pennsylvania BPOA License Search, <a href="https://www.pals.pa.gov/#!/page/search">https://www.pals.pa.gov/#!/page/search</a> (last visited date of signature of this
Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed
to practice medicine in Pennsylvania, the state in which she is
registered with DEA.\4\
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\2\ Although not required, the Government also submitted the
Board's Memorandum Order, which indefinitely suspended Registrant's
state medical license on February 25, 2025. RFAA, at 4; see also
RFAAX 4. While this submission cannot be admitted by default because
it was not originally included in the OSC, the Agency does take
notice of the development and its inclusion in the RFAA. See Victor
Augusto Silva, M.D., 90 FR 16002, 16002 n.4 (2025) (finding that ``a
registrant's deemed admission of the factual allegations based on a
default applies to the facts in the OSC only'').
\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).
\4\ 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 Order, is not licensed to
practice medicine in Pennsylvania. 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#f3979692dd9297979cdd9287879c819d968a80b3979692dd949c85"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="412524206f2025252e6f2035352e332f243832012524206f262e37">[email protected]</span></a>.
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Discussion
Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General may suspend
or revoke a registration issued under 21 U.S.C. 823 ``upon a finding
that the registrant . . . has had [her] 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).\5\
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\5\ 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 or she is no longer authorized to dispense controlled
substances under the laws of the state in which he or she 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 Pennsylvania statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver
a controlled substance, other drug or device 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 such item for that delivery.'' 35 Pa.
Stat. Sec. 780-102(b) (West 2025). Further, a ``practitioner'' means
``a physician . . . or other person licensed, registered or otherwise
permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to or
to administer a controlled substance, other drug or device in the
course of professional practice or research in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.'' Id.
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant is
not a currently licensed practitioner in Pennsylvania. As discussed
above, a physician must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a
controlled substance in Pennsylvania. Thus, because Registrant
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Pennsylvania and,
therefore, is not currently authorized to handle controlled substances
in Pennsylvania, Registrant is not eligible to maintain a DEA
registration in Pennsylvania. 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.
FG3991115 issued to Hayriye Gok, 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 Hayriye Gok, M.D., to renew or
modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of
Hayriye Gok, M.D., for additional registration in Pennsylvania.
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. 2025-12703 Filed 7-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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