On March 10, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter, DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to Rebecca L. Adams, N.P. (hereinafter, Registrant). OSC, at 1 and 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration ( printed page 47467) No. MA5778228 at the registered address of 1200 N. State St., Suite 420, Jackson, Mississippi, 39202. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that Registrant's registration should be revoked because Registrant is “without authority to handle controlled substances in the State of Mississippi, the state in which [she is] registered with DEA.” Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).

The Agency makes the following findings of fact based on the uncontroverted evidence submitted by the Government in its Request for Final Agency Action (RFAA), submitted July 12, 2022.^[1]

Findings of Fact

On April 15, 2021, the Mississippi Board of Nursing issued an Order revoking Registrant's license to practice medicine in Mississippi. RFAAX C (Final Order), at 3. According to Mississippi's online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's license is still revoked.^[2] Mississippi Board of Nursing License Verification, https://gateway.licensure.msbn.ms.gov/​verification/​search.aspx (last visited date of signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not currently licensed to engage in the practice of medicine in Mississippi, the state in which she is registered with the DEA.

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 (hereinafter, CSA) “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, the 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, M.D.,76 FR 71,371 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D.,43 FR 27,616, 27,617 (1978).^[3]

According to Mississippi statute, “dispense” means “to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.” Miss. Code Ann. § 41-29-105(j) (2022). Further, a “practitioner” means a person “licensed, registered or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state.” Id. at § 41-29-105(y)(i). Because Registrant is not currently licensed as a nurse practitioner, or otherwise licensed in Mississippi, she is not authorized to dispense controlled substances in Mississippi.

Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Mississippi. As already discussed, a person must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in Mississippi. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in Mississippi and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in Mississippi, 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. MA5778228 issued to Rebecca L. Adams, N.P. Further, pursuant to 28 CFR 0.100(b) and the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 823(f), I hereby deny any pending applications of Rebecca L. Adams, N.P., to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of Rebecca L. Adams, N.P., for additional registration in Mississippi. This Order is effective [insert Date Thirty Days From the Date of Publication in the Federal Register ].

Signing Authority

This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on July 26, 2022, 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 .