Craig M. Weingrow, M.D.; Decision and Order, 13957-13958 [2019-06834]

Agencies

• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Department of Justice

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 67 (Monday, April 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13957-13958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06834]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration

[Docket No. 19-7]


Craig M. Weingrow, M.D.; Decision and Order

    On November 7, 2018, the Assistant Administrator, Diversion Control 
Division, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an Order to 
Show Cause to Craig M. Weingrow, M.D. (Respondent), of Las Vegas, 
Nevada. The Show Cause Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's 
DEA Certificate of Registration No. FW3352539 on the ground that he 
does ``not have authority to handle controlled substances in Nevada, 
the [S]tate in which [he is] registered.'' Order to Show Cause, at 1 
(citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f), 824(a)(3)).
    With respect to the Agency's jurisdiction, the Show Cause Order 
alleged that Respondent is the holder of Certificate of Registration 
No. FW3352539, pursuant to which he is authorized to dispense 
controlled substances as a practitioner in schedules II through V, at 
the registered address of 7200 Smoke Ranch Road, Suite #120, Las Vegas, 
Nevada. Id. The Order also alleged that this registration does not 
expire until May 31, 2021. Id.
    Regarding the substantive grounds for the proceeding, the Show 
Cause Order alleged that effective July 18, 2018, the Nevada State 
Board of Pharmacy (NSBP) revoked Respondent's Nevada ``Controlled 
Substance Registration'' and his Nevada ``Practitioner Dispensing 
Registration.'' Id. The Show Cause Order also alleged that on September 
18, 2018, Respondent entered into a Settlement Agreement with the Board 
of Medical Examiners of the State of Nevada (NBME) ``whereby [he was] 
placed on probation for a period of 36 months, and during which [he is] 
prohibited from prescribing or dispensing controlled substances.'' Id. 
at 1-2. As a result, the Order alleged that Respondent ``currently 
lack[s] the authority to handle controlled substances in Nevada.'' Id. 
at 2. Based on his ``lack of authority to [dispense] controlled 
substances in . . . Nevada,'' the Order asserted that ``DEA must 
revoke'' Respondent's registration. Id. (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f); 
824(a)(3)).
    The Show Cause Order notified Respondent of (1) his right to 
request a hearing on the allegations or to submit a written statement 
in lieu of a hearing, (2) the procedure for electing either option, and 
(3) the consequence for failing to elect either option. Id. (citing 21 
CFR 1301.43). The Order also notified Respondent of his right to submit 
a corrective action plan. Id. at 3 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(c)(2)(C)).
    On December 10, 2018, Respondent, through counsel, filed a letter 
requesting a hearing on the allegations and indicating that the Show 
Cause Order ``was received on November 13, 2018.'' Dec. 10, 2018 Letter 
from Respondent's Counsel to Hearing Clerk (hereinafter, Hearing 
Request), at 1. In his Hearing Request, Respondent specifically 
contends that suspension, rather than revocation, ``is an appropriate 
sanction in this case'' because he had not committed a crime and 
neither the conduct set forth in the Settlement Agreement with the NBME 
nor the findings of the NSBP ``warrant a revocation.'' Id. at 2-4.
    The matter was then placed on the docket of the Office of 
Administrative Law Judges and assigned to Chief Administrative Law 
Judge John J. Mulrooney, II (hereinafter, CALJ). On December 11, 2018, 
the CALJ issued an Order directing the Government to file its 
``evidence to support the allegation that the Respondent lacks state 
authority to handle controlled substances'' and ``any Government motion 
for summary disposition'' no later than December 28, 2018. Order 
Directing the Filing of Government Evidence of Lack of State Authority 
Allegation and Briefing Schedule, at 1. The CALJ issued a separate 
Order directing Respondent to file his response to any summary 
disposition motion no later than January 14, 2019. Order Granting 
Unopposed Motion for Enlargement of Time, at 1.
    On December 27, 2018, the Government filed its Motion for Summary 
Disposition. In its Motion, the Government argued that Respondent 
currently lacks authority to handle controlled substances in Nevada 
because the NSBP revoked Respondent's Nevada Controlled Substance 
Registration and Nevada Practitioner Dispensing Registration effective 
July 18, 2018. Government's Motion for Summary Disposition (hereinafter 
Government's Motion or Govt. Mot.) at 1, 5. The Government also alleged 
that neither registration has been reinstated. Id. In addition, the 
Government alleged that the NBME placed Respondent's Nevada medical 
license on probation for 36 months as part of a Settlement Agreement 
and that, as part of this Agreement, Respondent ``has been prohibited 
from prescribing or dispensing controlled substances'' during this 
period. Id. On January 14, 2019, Respondent filed his ``Non-
Opposition'' to the Government's Motion, stating that he no longer 
opposes the Government's Motion based upon his review of the 
Government's Motion and past DEA and federal court decisions. 
Respondent's Non-Opposition to Government's Motion for Summary 
Disposition, at 1.
    After considering these pleadings, the CALJ issued an Order on 
January 16, 2019, recommending that I find that it is ``undisputed that 
the Respondent lacks the state authority to handle controlled 
substances.'' Order Granting the Government's Motion for Summary 
Disposition and Recommended Rulings, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of 
Law, and Decision of the Administrative Law Judge (hereinafter 
``Recommended Decision'' or ``R.D.''), at 4. As a result, the ALJ 
granted the Government's motion for summary disposition and recommended 
that I revoke Respondent's DEA registration and deny any pending 
applications for renewal. Id. at 5. Neither party filed exceptions to 
the ALJ's Recommended Decision.
    Thereafter, the record was forwarded to my Office for Final Agency 
Action. Having reviewed the record, I find that Respondent is currently 
without authority to handle controlled substances in Nevada, the State 
in which he holds his registration with the Agency, and thus he is not 
entitled to maintain his DEA registration. I adopt the ALJ's 
recommendation that I revoke Respondent's registration. I make the 
following factual findings.

[[Page 13958]]

Findings of Fact

    Respondent is the holder of DEA Certificate of Registration No. 
FW3352539, pursuant to which he is authorized to dispense controlled 
substances in schedules II through V as a practitioner at the 
registered address of Weingrow Wellness & Medical Center, 7200 Smoke 
Ranch Road, Suite #120, Las Vegas, Nevada. GX 2 (Certification of 
Registration History) to Govt. Mot., at 1. This registration does not 
expire until May 31, 2021. Id.
    On July 25, 2018, the NSBP issued an Order revoking Respondent's 
Nevada ``Controlled Substance Registration, Certificate No. CS20272, 
and his Practitioner Dispensing Registration, Certificate No. 
PD00502,'' effective July 18, 2018. GX 3 (July 25, 2018 Findings of 
Fact, Conclusion of Law and Order of the NSBP) to Govt. Mot., at 8. The 
NSBP's Order expressly prohibited Respondent from, inter alia, (1) 
``prescrib[ing] any controlled substance for any patient;'' (2) 
``dispens[ing] any controlled substance or dangerous drug;'' and (3) 
``possess[ing] any controlled substance for office use or for patient 
use.'' Id. The NSBP also directed Respondent to ``immediately and 
lawfully dispose of any and all controlled substances in his possession 
and/or control, other than a controlled substance lawfully prescribed 
and dispensed to him for his own personal use.'' Id.\1\ On September 
10, 2018, the NBME placed Respondent's Nevada medical license in an 
``[i]nactive status'' as part of a Settlement Agreement whereby 
Respondent agreed that his medical license would be subject to 
probation for 36 months and that he would be prohibited from 
prescribing or dispensing controlled substances during that time. See 
GX 4 (NBME-Respondent Settlement Agreement) to RFAA, at 5-6. There is 
no evidence in the record that the NSBP ever reinstated Respondent's 
Nevada controlled substance or practitioner dispensing registrations, 
nor is there any evidence that the NBME changed the status of 
Respondent's medical license from inactive status.
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    \1\ After conducting a hearing, the NSBP based its decision to 
revoke Respondent's Nevada controlled substance and practitioner 
dispensing registrations in part on its finding that Respondent 
``routinely permitted unlicensed members of his office staff . . . 
to falsify his signature on the prescriptions for medications 
dispensed by his medical office'' and ``to falsify patient initials 
and dates of service on patients' informed consent labels.'' Id. at 
1 & n.1, 2. The NSBP also found that Respondent ``dispensed 
controlled substances and dangerous drugs by mail to patients who 
live out-of-town'' and ``used Federal Express to ship medications to 
patients.'' Id. Respondent also signed a statement agreeing to these 
fact findings. See id.
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    Accordingly, I find that Respondent currently does not possess the 
authority to dispense controlled substances in the State of Nevada, the 
State in which he is registered with the DEA, because both the NSBP and 
the NBME have expressly prohibited him from doing so.

Discussion

    Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General is authorized 
to suspend or revoke a registration issued under section 823 of the 
Controlled Substances Act (CSA), ``upon a finding that the registrant . 
. . has had his State license . . . suspended [or] revoked . . . by 
competent State authority and is no longer authorized by State law to 
engage in the . . . dispensing of controlled substances.'' Also, DEA 
has 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. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, 
76 FR 71371 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 Fed. Appx. 826 (4th Cir. 
2012); see also Frederick Marsh Blanton, 43 FR 27616 (1978) (``State 
authorization to dispense or otherwise handle controlled substances is 
a prerequisite to the issuance and maintenance of a Federal controlled 
substances registration.'').
    This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the 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(f). Because Congress has clearly mandated 
that a practitioner possess state authority in order to be deemed a 
practitioner under the Act, DEA has long held 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 engages in professional practice. See, e.g., 
Calvin Ramsey, 76 FR 20034, 20036 (2011); Sheran Arden Yeates, M.D., 71 
FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); 
Bobby Watts, 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Blanton, 43 FR 27616 (1978).
    Here, I find that there is no dispute over the material fact that 
Respondent is no longer currently authorized to dispense controlled 
substances in Nevada, the State in which he is registered with the 
Agency. Accordingly, Respondent is not entitled to maintain his DEA 
registration. I will therefore adopt the ALJ's recommendation that I 
revoke Respondent's registration. R.D., at 5. I will also deny any 
pending application to renew or to modify his registration, or any 
pending application for any other DEA registration in Nevada.

Order

    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), I order that DEA Certificate of 
Registration No. FW3352539, issued to Craig M. Weingrow, M.D., be, and 
it hereby is, revoked. I further order that any pending application of 
Craig M. Weingrow to renew or modify the above registration, or any 
pending application of Craig M. Weingrow for any other DEA registration 
in the State of Nevada, be, and it hereby is, denied. This Order is 
effective immediately.\2\
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    \2\ For the same reasons which led the NSBP to revoke 
Respondent's controlled substances and practitioner's dispensing 
licenses and prescriptive authority, I conclude that the public 
interest necessitates that this Order be effective immediately. 21 
CFR 1316.67.

    Dated: March 22, 2019.
Uttam Dhillon,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-06834 Filed 4-5-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4410-09-P