On July 21, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (hereinafter, DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (hereinafter, OSC) to Dmitry Anatolevich Shelchkov, M.D. (hereinafter, Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (hereinafter, RFAA), Appendix (hereinafter, RFAAX) H, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the revocation of Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. BS8311502 at the registered address of 1396 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11237. Id. at 1. The OSC alleged that Registrant's registration should be revoked because Registrant is “without authority to handle controlled substances in New York, 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 fully received on July 12, 2023.^[2]

Findings of Fact

On March 2, 2021, the New York State Commissioner of Health ordered that “effective immediately, [Registrant] shall not practice medicine in the State of New York.” RFAAX B, at 1, 3. On October 29, 2021, the New York State Board for Professional Medical Conduct issued a Determination and Order revoking Registrant's New York medical license. RFAAX C, at 3-4, 27. According to New York's online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's New York medical license is revoked.^[3] New York State Department of Health Office of Professional Medical Conduct Physician Search, https://apps.health.ny.gov/​pubdoh/​professionals/​doctors/​conduct/​factions/​Home.action (last visited date of signature of this Order).^[4] Accordingly, ( printed page 74521) the Agency finds that Registrant is not licensed to engage in the practice of medicine in New York, the state in which he is registered with 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, 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).^[5]

According to the New York Controlled Substances Act (hereinafter, the Act), “[i]t shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, prescribe, distribute, dispense, administer, possess, have under his control, abandon, or transport a controlled substance except as expressly allowed by this article.” N.Y. Pub. Health Law section 3304 (McKinney 2023). Further, the Act defines a “practitioner” as “[a] physician . . . or other person licensed, or otherwise permitted to dispense, administer or conduct research with respect to a controlled substance in the course of a licensed professional practice. . . .” Id. at section 3302(27). Finally, New York regulations state that “[a] prescription for a controlled substance may be issued only by a practitioner who is . . . authorized to prescribe controlled substances pursuant to his licensed professional practice. . . .” N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 10, section 80.64(a)(1) (2023).

Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in New York. As discussed above, a physician must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in New York. Thus, because Registrant lacks authority to practice medicine in New York and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in New York, 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. BS8311502 issued to Dmitry Anatolevich Shelchkov, 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 Dmitry Anatolevich Shelchkov, M.D., to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of Dmitry Anatolevich Shelchkov, M.D., for additional registration in New York. This Order is effective November 30, 2023.

Signing Authority

This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on October 20, 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 .