Julian A. Abbey, M.D.; Revocation of Registration, 10788-10789 [E7-4237]

Agencies

• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Department of Justice

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 46 (Friday, March 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10788-10789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4237]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Julian A. Abbey, M.D.; Revocation of Registration

    On April 17, 2006, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to 
Show Cause to Julian A. Abbey, M.D., (Respondent) of Saugus, 
Massachusetts. The Show Cause Order proposed to revoke Respondent's DEA 
Certificate of Registration, BA4361426, as a practitioner on two 
grounds.
    First, the Show Cause Order alleged that Respondent had entered 
into a voluntary agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration 
in Medicine in which he agreed to cease the practice of medicine in 
that State effective July 30, 2004. Show Cause Order at 1. The Show 
Cause Order further alleged that the agreement constituted a 
disciplinary action against Respondent's state license. Id.
    Second, the Show Cause Order alleged that on August 4, 2004, 
Respondent had submitted an on-line renewal application for his DEA 
registration in which he falsely indicated that he ``had not been the 
subject of any State disciplinary or licensing action.'' Id. at 2. The 
Show Cause Order further alleged that based on Respondent's 
misrepresentation, DEA renewed his registration. Id.
    On April 21, 2006, the Government attempted to serve the Show Cause 
Order, which also notified Respondent of his right to request a 
hearing, by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. However, the 
mailing was returned unclaimed. Thereafter, on May 18, 2006, the 
Government served the Show Cause Order by First Class Mail to the 
address of Respondent's registered location. Since that time, neither 
Respondent, nor any one purporting to represent him, has responded. 
Because (1) more than thirty days have passed since service of the Show 
Cause Order, and (2) no request for a hearing has been received, I 
conclude that Respondent has waived his right to a hearing. See 21 CFR 
1301.43(d). I therefore enter this final order without a hearing based 
on relevant material found in the investigative file and make the 
following findings.

Findings

    Respondent holds DEA Certificate of Registration, BA4361426, which 
was initially issued to him on March 15, 1995. On August 3, 2004, 
Respondent renewed his registration using the DEA Internet site. 
Respondent's registration does not expire until June 30, 2007.
    On June 25, 2004, Respondent entered into a ``Voluntary Agreement 
Not To Practice Medicine'' with the Massachusetts Board of Registration 
in Medicine (Board); on July 30, 2004, the Board accepted the 
agreement. Under the agreement, Respondent agreed to immediately cease 
practicing medicine in Massachusetts. Moreover, Respondent acknowledged 
that the agreement constituted ``a voluntary restriction of my license 
to practice medicine and is considered to be a disciplinary action that 
is reportable to any national data reporting system'' pursuant to 
Massachusetts law. Agreement at 1. Respondent also agreed that ``[a]ny 
violation of this Agreement shall be prima facie evidence for immediate 
summary suspension of my license to practice medicine.'' Id. 
Furthermore, according to the Board, ``as a consequence of such an 
agreement, a physician may not prescribe controlled substances.'' 
Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, Press Release (Nov. 9, 
2005).
    According to the investigative file, on October 28, 2005, 
Respondent was arrested in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, and charged under 
state law with the illegal possession of a class C substance 
(hydrocodone bitartrate) with intent to distribute. According to the 
file, during the period following Respondent's entering into the 
voluntary agreement and his arrest, Respondent obtained approximately 
37,500 tablets of hydrocodone bitartrate 10mg/650mg.
    Thereafter, on November 9, 2005, the Board summarily suspended 
Respondent's state medical license on the ground that he posed an 
immediate threat to the public safety, health and welfare. According to 
online records of the Board, Respondent's medical license remains 
suspended. See Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine 
Physician Profile, Julian Abbey, M.D.
    Under Massachusetts law, a physician must also hold a registration 
to handle a controlled substance; the registration is issued by the 
State's Commissioner of Public Health. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, 
Sec.  7(a). On December 1, 2005, the Massachusetts Department of Public 
Health sent a letter to Respondent notifying him that he was ``no 
longer authorized as a registrant under [Massachusetts law] to 
prescribe, distribute, possess, dispense or administer controlled 
substances in the Commonwealth.'' Letter from Adele D. Audet, Assistant 
Director, Drug Control Program, Massachusetts Department of Public 
Health, to Respondent (Dec. 1, 2005). The letter further advised 
Respondent that his state controlled substances registration would be 
terminated unless Respondent produced evidence of his authority to 
practice medicine in the State within thirty days of his receipt of the 
letter. A March 28, 2006 letter from the Department of Public Health to 
Respondent confirms that he no longer holds authority under 
Massachusetts law to handle controlled substances. Letter from Patricia 
Calvagna-Lusk, Administrative Coordinator, Massachusetts Department of 
Public Health, to Respondent (Mar. 28, 2006).

Discussion

    Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a practitioner must be 
currently authorized to handle controlled substances in ``the 
jurisdiction in which he practices'' in order to maintain a DEA 
registration. See 21 U.S.C. 802(21) (``[t]he term `practitioner' means 
a physician * * * 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''). See also Id. Sec.  823(f) (``The Attorney 
General shall register practitioners * * * if the applicant is 
authorized to dispense * * * controlled substances under the laws of 
the State in which he practices.''). DEA has held repeatedly that the 
CSA requires the revocation of a registration issued to a practitioner

[[Page 10789]]

whose state controlled substances authority has been suspended or 
revoked. See Sheran Arden Yeates, 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick 
A. Ricci, 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, 53 FR 11919, 11920 
(1988). See also 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3) (authorizing the revocation of a 
registration ``upon a finding that the registrant * * * has had his 
State license or registration suspended [or] revoked * * * and is no 
longer authorized by State law to engage in the * * * distribution [or] 
dispensing of controlled substances'').
    As found above, the letters from the State Department of Health 
establish that Respondent no longer has authority to handle controlled 
substances in Massachusetts, the State in which he holds his DEA 
registration. Therefore, Respondent is no longer entitled to maintain 
his DEA registration.
    Furthermore, based on the evidence in the investigative file which 
shows that Respondent obtained 37,500 dosage units of hydrocodone 
bitartrate notwithstanding that he no longer had authority to practice 
medicine, I conclude that Respondent was engaged in the diversion of 
substantial quantities of controlled substances. Therefore, while this 
conduct was not alleged as grounds for the revocation of Respondent's 
registration, I conclude that the public interest requires that 
Respondent's registration be revoked effective immediately.\1\ See 21 
CFR 1316.67.
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    \1\ While the Show Cause Order also alleged that Respondent 
materially falsified his application, the investigative file does 
not contain any probative evidence on this issue.
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Order

    Accordingly, pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 
823(f) and 824(a), as well as 28 CFR 0.100(b) and 0.104, I hereby order 
that DEA Certificate of Registration, BA4361426, issued to Julian A. 
Abbey, M.D., be, and it hereby is, revoked. I further order that any 
pending applications for renewal or modification of such registration 
be, and they hereby are, denied. This order is effective immediately.

    Dated: February 28, 2007.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
 [FR Doc. E7-4237 Filed 3-8-07; 8:45 am]
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