On May 21, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Herold Pierre-Louis, P.A., of Tucson, Arizona (Respondent). OSC, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration No. MP7845766, alleging that Respondent's DEA registration should be revoked because Respondent is “without authority to prescribe, administer, dispense, or otherwise handle controlled substances in the State of Arizona, the state in which [he is] registered with DEA.” Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).

On May 30, 2024, Respondent requested a hearing and filed an Answer to the OSC. On June 10, 2024, the Government filed a Motion for Summary Disposition, to which Respondent did not respond.^[1] On June 27, 2024, Administrative Law Judge Paul E. Soeffing (the ALJ) granted the Government's Motion for Summary Disposition and recommended the revocation of Respondent's registration, finding that because Respondent lacks state authority to handle controlled substances in Arizona, the state in which he is registered with DEA, “there is no other fact of consequence for this tribunal to decide.” Order Granting the ( printed page 9168) Government's Motion for Summary Disposition, and Recommended Rulings, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision of the Administrative Law Judge (RD), at 5. Respondent did not file exceptions to the RD.

Having reviewed the entire record, the Agency adopts and hereby incorporates by reference the entirety of the ALJ's rulings, findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommended sanction as found in the RD and summarizes and expands upon portions thereof herein.

Findings of Fact

On or about November 29, 2023, the Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants revoked Respondent's Arizona physician assistant license. RD, at 3.^[2] According to Arizona online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, as of August 23, 2024, the status of Respondent's Arizona physician assistant license was revoked.^[3] Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants, Find Your PA, https://www.azpa.gov/​PASearch/​PASearch (last visited date of signature of this Order).^[4] Accordingly, the Agency finds that Respondent is not currently licensed to practice as a physician assistant in Arizona, 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 (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. 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. § 802(21).”). The Agency has applied these principles consistently. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, M.D.,76 FR 71371, 71372 (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 Arizona statute, “[e]very person who manufactures, distributes, dispenses, prescribes or uses for scientific purposes any controlled substance within th[e] state or who proposes to engage in the manufacture, distribution, prescribing or dispensing of or using for scientific purposes any controlled substance within th[e] state must first: (1) [o]btain and possess a current license or permit as a medical practitioner as defined in § 32-1901 . . . .” Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. section 36-2522(A)(1) (2024). Section 32-1901 defines a “[m]edical practitioner” as “any medical doctor . . . or other person who is licensed and authorized by law to use and prescribe drugs and devices to treat sick and injured human beings or animals or to diagnose or prevent sickness in human beings or animals in [Arizona] or any state, territory or district of the United States.” Id. section 32-1901.

Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Respondent lacks authority to practice as a physician assistant in Arizona. As discussed above, only a licensed medical practitioner can dispense controlled substances in Arizona. Thus, because Respondent lacks authority to practice as a physician assistant in Arizona, and therefore is not a licensed medical practitioner, Respondent is not eligible to maintain a DEA registration. Accordingly, the Agency will order that Respondent'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. MP7845766 issued to Herold Pierre-Louis, P.A. Further, ( printed page 9169) 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 Herold Pierre-Louis, P.A., to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of Herold Pierre-Louis, P.A., for additional registration in Arizona. This Order is effective March 10, 2025.

Signing Authority

This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on January 31, 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 .