Notice2025-13354
Diana Clouthier, N.P.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
July 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 134 (Wednesday, July 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32022-32023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13354]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Diana Clouthier, N.P.; Decision and Order
On February 13, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Diana Clouthier,
N.P., of Canon City, Colorado (Registrant). Request for Final Agency
Action (RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 1, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the
revocation of Registrant's DEA Certificate of Registration (COR) No.
MC5780639, alleging that Registrant is ``currently without authority to
. . . handle controlled substances in the State of Colorado, 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 2.\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 7, 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 personal residence and
by phone, but both attempts were unsuccessful. RFAAX 2, at 1.
Registrant returned the phone call and informed DI that she was not
in Colorado and ``would not confirm when she would be returning'' to
Colorado. Id. On February 24, 2025, DI emailed the OSC to Registrant
and Registrant replied acknowledging receipt, but did not request a
hearing in her response. Id. at 2-4. Accordingly, the Agency finds
that the Government's service of the OSC on Registrant was adequate.
See Mohammed S. Aljanaby, M.D., 82 FR 34,552, 34,552 (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 4,829, 4,830 (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). RFAA, at 1, 4; see also
21 CFR 1316.67.
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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 Colorado registered nursing license, advanced
practice nurse license, and nurse practitioner prescriptive authority
license were suspended by the Colorado State Board of Nursing on
October 21, 2024. RFAAX 1, at 1-2; see also RFAAX 4. According to
Colorado online records, of which the Agency takes official notice,\2\
Registrant's Colorado licenses have a status of ``Suspended.'' Colorado
DORA 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).
Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed as a
practitioner in Colorado, the state in which she 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 Order, is not licensed as a
nurse in Colorado. 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#e6828387c887828289c8879292899488839f95a6828387c8818990"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3e5a5b5f105f5a5a51105f4a4a514c505b474d7e5a5b5f10595148">[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 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 71,371, 71,372 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F.
App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27,616,
27,617 (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 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 71,371-72; Sheran Arden
Yeates, M.D., 71 FR 39,130, 39,131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, M.D.,
58 FR 51,104, 51,105 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11,919, 11,920
(1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR at 27,617.
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According to Colorado statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver a
controlled substance to an ultimate user, 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. Sec. 18-18-102(9) (West 2025). 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. Sec. 18-18-102(29).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant is
not a currently licensed practitioner in Colorado. As discussed above,
a nurse must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled
substance in Colorado. Thus, because Registrant's nursing licenses are
suspended in Colorado and, therefore, she is not currently authorized
to handle controlled substances in Colorado, Registrant is not eligible
to maintain a DEA registration in Colorado. 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.
MC5780639 issued to Diana Clouthier, N.P. 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 Diana Clouthier, N.P., to renew
or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application
of Diana Clouthier, N.P., for additional registration in Colorado. This
Order is effective August 15, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
July 10, 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. 2025-13354 Filed 7-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 16, 2025.
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