Linwood A. Starks, D.V.M.; Decision and Order, 13196-13198 [2025-04746]

Agencies

• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Department of Justice

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 53 (Thursday, March 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13196-13198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04746]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Linwood A. Starks, D.V.M.; Decision and Order

    On June 29, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or 
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Linwood A. Starks, 
D.V.M., of Grand Prairie, Texas (Registrant). Request for Final Agency 
Action (RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 2, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the 
revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. FS5936919, 
alleging that Registrant's registration should be revoked because 
Registrant is ``currently without authority to handle controlled 
substances in the State of Texas, the

[[Page 13197]]

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 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). The OSC also notified Registrant that if he 
requested a hearing but failed to timely file an answer, plead, or 
otherwise defend, he would be deemed to have waived his right to a 
hearing and be in default. Id. On October 11, 2023, Registrant filed a 
request for a hearing, however, the request for hearing did not contain 
any answers to the OSC. RFAA, at 2; RFAAX 4, at 1-2. Registrant was 
given an extended deadline to file answers to the OSC, but failed to do 
so, and on October 23, 2023, the Chief Administrative Law Judge 
terminated the proceedings and found Registrant to be in default. RFAA, 
at 2-3; RFAAX 5, at 2.
    ``A default, unless excused, shall be deemed to constitute a waiver 
of the registrant's/applicant's right to a hearing and an admission of 
the factual allegations of the [OSC].'' 21 CFR 1301.43(e). 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] 1316.67.'' Id. section 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 4; 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 January 6, 2023, the Executive Disciplinary Committee of the 
Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME) issued an Order of 
Temporary Suspension barring Registrant from the practice of veterinary 
medicine in Texas. RFAAX 2, at 1-2. According to Texas online records, 
of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's Texas 
veterinary license remains suspended.\1\ Texas Board of Veterinary 
Medical Examiners Licensee Lookup, https://apps.veterinary.texas.gov/s/licenseelookup (last visited date of signature of this Order). 
Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed to 
practice as a veterinarian in Texas, the state in which he is 
registered with DEA.
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    \1\ 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 the DEA 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. 
Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243, 270 (2006) (``The Attorney General 
can register a physician to dispense controlled substances `if the 
applicant is authorized to dispense . . . controlled substances under 
the laws of the State in which he practices.' . . . The very definition 
of a `practitioner' eligible to prescribe includes physicians 
`licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by the United States or 
the jurisdiction in which he practices' to dispense controlled 
substances. Sec.  802(21).''). The Agency has applied these principles 
consistently. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, M.D., 76 FR 71371, 71,372 
(2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); 
Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27616, 27617 (1978).\2\
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    \2\ 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, M.D., 76 FR 71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, 
M.D., 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 
51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); 
Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27617.
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    According to Texas statute, ``dispense'' means ``the delivery of a 
controlled substance in the course of professional practice or 
research, by a practitioner or person acting under the lawful order of 
a practitioner, to an ultimate user or research subject. The term 
includes the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or 
compounding necessary to prepare the substance for delivery.'' Tex. 
Health & Safety Code Ann. section 481.002(12) (2024). Further, a 
``practitioner'' includes ``a physician, dentist, veterinarian . . . or 
other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to 
distribute, dispense, analyze, conduct research with respect to, or 
administer a controlled substance in the course of professional 
practice or research in this state.'' Id. section 481.002(39)(A).
    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
lacks authority to practice as a veterinarian in Texas. As discussed 
above, an individual must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a 
controlled substance in Texas. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority 
to practice as a veterinarian in Texas and, therefore, is not 
authorized to handle controlled substances in Texas, 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. 
FS5936919, issued to Linwood A. Starks, D.V.M. 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 Linwood A. Starks, D.V.M., to 
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending 
application of Linwood A. Starks, D.V.M., for additional registration 
in Texas. This Order is effective April 21, 2025.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed

[[Page 13198]]

on March 13, 2025, by Acting Administrator Derek Maltz. 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. 2025-04746 Filed 3-19-25; 8:45 am]
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