On March 16, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter, DEA or Government) ( printed page 56709) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to Reginald James Newsome, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). OSC, at 1 and 4. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. FN0738344 at the registered address of 8865 Davis Blvd., Suite 100A, Keller, Texas 76248. 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 Texas, the state in which [he 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 18, 2022.^[1]

Findings of Fact

On February 15, 2022, the Texas Medical Board issued an Order of Temporary Suspension suspending Registrant's license to practice medicine in Texas. RFAAX C (Temporary Suspension Order), at 6. According to Texas's online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's Texas medical license is still suspended.^[2] Texas Medical Board Verification, https://profile.tmb.state.tx.us/​Search.aspx?​d2678354-aafa-4f28-a2a0-96b1f74b617a (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 Texas, the state in which he 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 71371 (2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D.,43 FR 27616 27617 (1978).^[3]

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 § 481.002(12) (2022). Further, a “practitioner” means a “a physician, . . . 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. at § 481.002(39)(A).

Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant currently lacks authority to practice medicine in Texas. A person must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in Texas. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine 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. FN0738344 issued to Reginald James Newsome, M.D. 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 Reginald James Newsome, M.D., to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of Reginald James Newsome, M.D., for additional registration in Texas. This Order is effective October 17, 2022.

Signing Authority

This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on September 8, 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 .