On February 18, 2015, the DEA issued its final decision and order in the case against prescriber Hatem M. Ataya (“Ataya”). The Administrator ordered Ataya’s registration to be revoked and his pending applications for additional registrations to be denied on the grounds that Ataya has, since the proceedings began, lost the authority to dispense controlled substances under state law. Still, the Administrator’s decision also details the bases on which he agreed with the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ’s) findings that Ataya issued controlled substance prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose (in violation of 21 CFR § 1306.04(a)) and violated federal and state law when he authorized more than five refills of schedule IV controlled substances, failed to include patients’ addresses on numerous prescriptions, and post-dated a prescription.
DEA Decisions: Community Impact Factor Still Relevant to Pharmacy Registrations
On November 13, 2015, the DEA issued its final decision and order in the case against Perry County Food & Drug (“PCFD”). The Administrator denied PCFD’s pending application to renew its registration based on stipulations by PCFD that its pharmacist-in-charge, who happened to be the son of PCFD’s owner, created and filled fraudulent prescriptions and committed numerous other acts that each amounted to “an outright drug deal.” The Administrator also found that the owner was informed of his son’s diversion activities on multiple occasions by long-standing employees and other family members. With facts like these, the Administrator’s order denying PCFD’s application is not surprising. But the decision is noteworthy for its clarification of DEA precedent concerning “community impact.”
“Community impact” is a factor that respondents have raised to turn the Agency’s “public interest” determination on its head: instead of focusing on whether the respondent’s registration is inconsistent with the public interest, this factor looks at whether the revocation of the respondent’s registration would be inconsistent with the public interest. But when PCFD made its community impact argument based on Pettigrew Rexall Drugs, the CALJ summarily dismissed the argument as having been “rendered irrelevant by Agency precedent,” citing to several cases involving a physician or dentist.
Court Puts Hold on DEA Final Order
The Chronicles welcomes guest blogger, Julia Hudson, an associate in the Q&B Health Law Group.
On September 15, 2015, the DEA issued a sweeping decision that revoked the registration of Masters Pharmaceutical, Inc. and left many with a lot of questions about the scope of
DEA Administrator Overrules ALJ, Revokes Distributor Registration in Sweeping Decision
The Chronicles welcomes guest blogger Katea Ravega, a Q&B Health Law attorney.
In a 308-page decision dated September 8, 2015, the new Acting Administrator of the DEA, Chuck Rosenberg, issued an Order revoking the DEA registration of wholesale distributor Masters Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Masters”). In doing so, the Administrator rejected the recommendation from DEA’s
DEA Decisions: In the Matter of The Medicine Shoppe
In the Matter of the Medicine Shoppe (October 2, 2014)
DEA recently revoked the registration of the Medicine Shoppe, a San Antonio, Texas, pharmacy, based on a finding that the pharmacy violated the Controlled Substances Act in all of the following ways:
- dispensed controlled substances without a prescription;
- dispensed controlled substances when the prescription was
DEA Decisions: In the Matter of Moore Clinical Trials, L.L.C.
In the Matter of Moore Clinical Trials, L.L.C (July 11, 2014)
DEA last month denied the DEA research registration application of an Arkansas clinical research company, finding that the person who would be primarily responsible for ordering and storing controlled substances had a “shocking” lack of knowledge of the fundamental requirements imposed by the Controlled
DEA Decisions: In the Matter of Roy S. Schwartz, D.D.S
In the Matter of Roy S. Schwartz, D.D.S (June 16, 2014)
DEA suspended for one year the DEA registration of a Tacoma, Washington dentist with more than 50 years experience after he admitted “sharing” his DEA number with another dentist who performed conscious sedation, and who had previously surrendered his DEA registration for cause. DEA
DEA Decisions: In the Matter of Hoi Y. Kam, M.D.
In the Matter of Hoi Y. Kam, M.D. (October 22, 2013) In July 2011, the New York Department of Health revoked Dr. Hoi Kam’s medical license on the ground that he previously committed Medicaid fraud and had been excluded from the Medicaid program in 2006. Three months later, however, the State’s Administrative Review Board (ARB)
DEA Decisions: In the Matter of Joe W. Morgan, D.O.
In the Matter of Joe W. Morgan, D.O. (October 8, 2013)
On April 9, 2012, the DEA issued an Order to Show Cause proposing the revocation of Joe W. Morgan, D.O.’s DEA registration based on his alleged prescribing of controlled substances in “dangerous and excessive,” and potentially lethal, quantities. Dr. Morgan was a DEA-registered physician
DEA Decisions: In the Matter of Kenneth Harold Bull, M.D.
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