Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D.; Decision and Order, 79308-79309 [2024-22200]

Agencies

• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Department of Justice

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79308-79309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22200]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D.; Decision and Order

    On August 30, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or 
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Theodore S. Wright 
Jr., M.D., of Chicago, Illinois (Registrant). Request for Final Agency 
Action (RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 1, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the 
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. AW2016651, 
alleging that Registrant's registration should be revoked because 
Registrant is ``currently without authority to prescribe, administer, 
dispense, or otherwise handle controlled substances in the State of 
Illinois, the state in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 1-2 
(citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
    The OSC notified Registrant of his right to file with DEA a written 
request for hearing, and that if he failed to file such a request, he 
would be deemed to have waived his right to a hearing and be in 
default. Id. at 2 (citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not 
request a hearing. RFAA, at 2.\1\ ``A default, unless excused, shall be 
deemed to constitute a waiver of the [registrant's] right to a hearing 
and an admission of the factual allegations of the [OSC].'' 21 CFR 
1301.43(e).
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    \1\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated 
October 17, 2023, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on 
Registrant was adequate. Specifically, the included declaration from 
a DEA Diversion Investigator indicates that on August 31, 2023, 
Registrant was personally served with the OSC at his registered 
address. RFAAX 2, at 1; see also id. at 3 (Form DEA-12 signed by 
Registrant on August 31, 2023).
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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] Sec.  1316.67.'' Id. Sec.  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 1; 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 admitted. According to the OSC, 
effective February 21, 2023, the Illinois Department of Financial and 
Professional Regulation suspended

[[Page 79309]]

Registrant's Illinois medical license. RFAAX 1, at 1. According to 
Illinois's online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, 
Registrant's Illinois medical license remains suspended.\2\ Illinois 
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation License Search, 
https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx/ (last 
visited date of signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds 
that Registrant is not licensed to practice medicine in Illinois, the 
state in which he is registered with DEA.
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    \2\ 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). 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.'' 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 Office of the Administrator, Drug 
Enforcement Administration at [email protected].
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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. 
See, e.g., James L. Hooper, D.O., 76 FR 71371, 71372 (2011), pet. for 
rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, 
D.O., 43 FR 27616, 27617 (1978).\3\
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    \3\ 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., James L. Hooper, 76 FR 71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, D.O., 71 
FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, D.O., 58 FR 51104, 51105 
(1993); Bobby Watts, D.O., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Frederick 
Marsh Blanton, 43 FR 27617.
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    Pursuant to the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, a practitioner 
in good faith (``the regular course of professional treatment'') may 
dispense a controlled substance. 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 570/312(a), 570/
102(u) (2024).\4\ A ``practitioner'' means ``a physician licensed to 
practice medicine in all its branches . . . or other person licensed, 
registered, or otherwise lawfully permitted by the United States or 
[Illinois] to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, 
administer or use in teaching or chemical analysis, a controlled 
substance in the course of professional practice or research.'' Id. 
570/102(kk).
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    \4\ ``Dispense'' means ``to deliver a controlled substance to an 
ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order 
of a prescriber, including the prescribing, administering, 
packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the 
substance for that delivery.'' Id. 570/102(p).
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    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Illinois. As 
discussed above, an individual must be a licensed practitioner to 
dispense a controlled substance in Illinois. Thus, because Registrant 
lacks authority to practice medicine in Illinois, and, therefore, is 
not authorized to handle controlled substances in Illinois, 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. 
AW2016651 issued to Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D. 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 Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D., 
to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending 
application of Theodore S. Wright Jr., M.D., for additional 
registration in Illinois. This Order is effective October 28, 2024.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
September 19, 2024, by Administrator Anne Milgram. 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. 2024-22200 Filed 9-26-24; 8:45 am]
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