Notice2025-18171
Eric Andersen, D.D.S.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
September 19, 2025
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 180 (Friday, September 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 180 (Friday, September 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45247-45249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18171]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Eric Andersen, D.D.S.; Decision and Order
On March 18, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Eric Andersen,
D.D.S., of Yorkville, Illinois (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
(Registration) No. FA2687765, alleging that Registrant is ``currently
without authority to prescribe, administer, dispense, or otherwise
handle controlled substances in the State of Illinois, 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. at
2-3 (citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not request a
hearing. RFAA, at 3.\1\ ``A
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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 May
9, 2025, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on Registrant was
proper. The included declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator
(DI) indicates that on or about March 24, 2025, through USPS, DI
mailed a copy of the OSC to Registrant at the correctional facility
where Registrant was incarcerated. RFAAX 2, at 2. DI was able to
confirm through USPS Online Tracking that the OSC was delivered to
Registrant on March 28, 2025. Id.; see also RFAAX 2, Attachment A.
DI additionally received the USPS return receipt, signed by a member
of the correctional facility staff, on April 15, 2025. Id.
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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), (f), and 1301.46. RFAA, at 1.
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, on or about November 25, 2024, the Illinois Department of
Financial and Professional Regulation permanently revoked Registrant's
Illinois dental license. RFAAX 1, at 2. According to Illinois online
records, of which the Agency takes official notice,\2\ Registrant's
Illinois dental license remains revoked. Also, according to Illinois
online records, both of Registrant's Illinois dental controlled
substance licenses are revoked. Illinois DFPR License Search, <a href="https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx">https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx</a> (last visited date
of signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that
Registrant is not licensed to practice dentistry in Illinois, 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 Order, is not licensed as a
dentist in and does not have a controlled substances license in
Illinois. 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#e88c8d89c6898c8c87c6899c9c879a868d919ba88c8d89c68f879e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9efafbffb0fffafaf1b0ffeaeaf1ecf0fbe7eddefafbffb0f9f1e8">[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 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 Illinois statute, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver a
controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or
pursuant to the lawful order of a prescriber, including the
prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding
necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.'' 720 ILCS 570/
102(p) (2025). ``Prescriber'' means ``a physician licensed to practice
medicine in all its branches, dentist, . . . who issues a
prescription.'' Id. at 570/102(mm). Further, a ``practitioner'' means a
``dentist, . . . or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise
lawfully permitted by . . . [Illinois] to distribute, dispense, conduct
research with respect to, [or] administer . . . a controlled substance
in the course of professional practice or research.'' Id. at 570/
102(kk).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to practice dentistry or prescribe controlled
substances in Illinois. As already discussed, a dentist must be a
licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in Illinois.
Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to practice dentistry in
Illinois and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled
substances in Illinois, Registrant is not eligible to maintain a DEA
registration in Illinois. 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.
FA2687765 issued to Eric Andersen, D.D.S. 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 Eric Andersen, D.D.S., to renew
or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application
of Eric Andersen, D.D.S., for additional registration in Illinois. This
Order is effective October 20, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
September 5, 2025, by Administrator Terrance Cole. 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
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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. 2025-18171 Filed 9-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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