On September 15, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter, DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to Dylan E. O'Connor, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (hereinafter, RFAA), Exhibit (hereinafter, RFAAX) 1 ( printed page 7105) (OSC), at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. FO7776644 at the registered address of 300 Pasteur Dr., Stanford, CA 94305-2295. 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 California, 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 RFAA,^[1] which was received on January 5, 2023.^[2]

Findings of Fact

On May 26, 2022, the Medical Board of California issued a Notice of Automatic Revocation of License that revoked Registrant's California medical license. RFAAX 2, Attachment C, at 1-3. According to California's online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's California medical license is revoked.^[3] Medical Board of California License Verification, https://www.mbc.ca.gov/​License-Verification (last visited date of signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed to engage in the practice of medicine in California, 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).^[4]

According to California 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, furnishing, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.” Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11010 (West 2022). Further, a “practitioner” means a person “licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or administer, a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in [the] state.” Id. at § 11026(c).

Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in California. As discussed above, a physician must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in California. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in California and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in California, 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. FO7776644 issued to Dylan E. O'Connor, 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 Dylan E. O'Connor, M.D., to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of Dylan E. O'Connor, M.D., for additional registration in California. This Order is effective March 6, 2023.

Signing Authority

This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on January 25, 2023, 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 .