In the Matter of Kenneth Harold Bull, M.D. (October 22, 2013) Dr. Kenneth Bull is a New Mexico psychiatrist known for treating difficult or complex psychiatric conditions.  During his long career, Dr. Bull worked as the chief of psychiatry or medical director of psychiatric services at nearly every hospital in the Albuquerque area, and he served as president of the New Mexico Psychiatric Association.  In 2009, however, the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy received information that Dr. Bull was asking patients to return medications (including controlled substances) to him so that he could re-dispense them.  Shortly thereafter, the Board and the DEA began investigating Dr. Bull. Dr. Bull told investigators that he took medications back from patients to prevent possible self-destructive behavior.  He denied that he re-dispensed any returned controlled substances and investigators testified that Dr. Bull’s office presented no evidence to the contrary.  During the course of the Board and DEA’s investigations, two of Dr. Bull’s patients overdosed, leading the Board of Psychologist Examiners to suspend his license in October of 2010.  Dr. Bull’s license was later reinstated with restrictions prohibiting him from treating chronic pain patients and prescribing narcotics. After reviewing the record, the Administrator determined that Dr. Bull violated the Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations by failing to comply with certain recordkeeping requirements.  Specifically, Dr. Bull failed to maintain an inventory of the controlled substances he had on hand at the time of the November 2009 inspection; failed to maintain a record of the controlled substances he received from either his patients or from the manufacturers/distributors who provided him with samples; failed to maintain a dispensing log for the controlled substance samples he dispensed to his patients; and failed to maintain a record of his prescribing of controlled substances in the course of maintenance or detoxification treatment of an individual.  The Administrator also found that the investigation did not show that Dr. Bull had re-dispensed controlled substances returned to him, or that he had prescribed controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice for other than legitimate medical purposes. Despite Dr. Bull’s many recordkeeping violations (and his apparent lack of awareness of his obligation to maintain such records), the Administrator ultimately decided that revocation of Dr. Bull’s DEA registration was not warranted, and instead ordered a six month suspension of his registration.  During the suspension Dr. Bull may see patients, but he cannot prescribe narcotic controlled substances.