Notice2026-19844
Angela Turner-Brown, N.P.; Decision and Order
Primary source
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Published
September 29, 2026
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentDrug Enforcement Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 187 (Tuesday, September 29, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 29, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61442-61443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-19844]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
Angela Turner-Brown, N.P.; Decision and Order
On November 18, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Angela Turner-Brown,
N.P., of Evansville, Indiana (Registrant). Request for Final Agency
Action (RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 2, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. MB0434035,
alleging that Registrant is ``currently without authority to prescribe,
administer, dispense, or otherwise handle controlled substances in the
State of Indiana, the state in which [she is] registered with DEA.''
Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).\1\
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\1\ According to Agency records, Registrant's DEA registration
expired on July 31, 2026. The fact that a registrant allows her
registration to expire during the pendency of an OSC does not impact
the Agency's jurisdiction or prerogative under the Controlled
Substances Act (CSA) to adjudicate the OSC to finality. Jeffrey D.
Olsen, M.D., 84 FR 68474, 68476-68479 (2019).
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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, and the Agency finds her to be in default. RFAA, at 2-3.\2\
``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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\2\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated
April 8, 2026, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on
Registrant was adequate. The included declaration from a DEA
Diversion Investigator (DI) indicates that on or about November 20,
2025, the DI mailed copies of the OSC to both Registrant's
registered address and Registrant's residential address. RFAAX 3, at
3. The copy of the OSC that was sent to Registrant's residential
address was successfully delivered and signed for by ``A. Brown,''
with the DI receiving FedEx Proof of Delivery. Id.; see also id.,
Attachments D-E.
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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), 1301.46. RFAA, at 4; 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, on October 31, 2023, Registrant's Indiana Controlled Substances
Registration (CSR) Prescriptive Authority license expired by its own
terms. RFAAX 2, at 2. Further, on October 31, 2025, Registrant's
Indiana Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Prescriptive
Authority license expired by its own terms. Id.
According to Indiana online records, of which the Agency takes
official notice,\3\ both Registrant's Indiana CSR Prescriptive
Authority license and Registrant's Indiana APRN Prescriptive Authority
license are expired. Indiana Licensing Enterprise License Search,
<a href="https://mylicense.in.gov/everification">https://mylicense.in.gov/everification</a> (last visited date of signature
of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not
licensed to handle controlled substances in Indiana, the state in which
she is registered with DEA.\4\
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\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 Decision and Order, is not
licensed to handle controlled substances in Indiana. 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 Office of the Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration,
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bfdbdade91dedbdbd091decbcbd0cdd1dac6ccffdbdade91d8d0c9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6e0a0b0f400f0a0a01400f1a1a011c000b171d2e0a0b0f40090118">[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 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., Lawrence Rudolph, D.M.D., 89 FR 79310 (2024);
Henry-Norbert O. Ndekwe, M.D., 90 FR 15990 (2025); Benson Sergiles,
P.A., 90 FR 32016 (2025); Ashley Vermillion, N.P., 91 FR 35270
(2026).\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 is no longer authorized to dispense controlled
substances under the laws of the state in which he practices. See,
e.g., Elias Garcia Garcia, P.A., 90 FR 31242 (2025); Jason Weakley,
R.N., A.P.R.N., 90 FR 10085 (2025); Khursheed Haider, M.D., 90 FR
21950 (2025).
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According to Indiana statute, and subject to exceptions irrelevant
here, ``[e]very person who dispenses or proposes to dispense any
controlled substance within Indiana must have a registration issued by
the [Indiana Board of Pharmacy] in accordance with the board's rules.''
Ind. Code 35-48-3-3(b) (2025). Further, ``dispense'' means ``to deliver
a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or
pursuant to the lawful order of a
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practitioner and includes the prescribing, administering, packaging,
labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that
delivery.'' Id. at 35-48-1.1-11.
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant
currently lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Indiana
because her Indiana CSR Prescriptive Authority license is expired. As
discussed above, a person must hold an Indiana controlled substances
registration to dispense a controlled substance in Indiana. Thus,
because Registrant lacks authority to handle controlled substances in
Indiana, Registrant is not eligible to maintain a DEA registration.
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.
MB0434035, issued to Angela Turner-Brown, 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 Angela Turner-Brown, N.P., to
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending
application of Angela Turner-Brown, N.P., for additional registration
in Indiana. This Order is effective October 29, 2026.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on
September 15, 2026, by DEA Administrator Terrance C. 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 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. 2026-19844 Filed 9-28-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 29, 2026.
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