90 FR 58 pgs. 13881-13882 - Willard J. Davis, D.O.; Decision and Order
Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 58Pages: 13881 - 13882
Pages: 13881, 13882Docket number: [Docket No. 25-19]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-05166 Filed 3-26-25; 8:45 am]
Agency: Justice Department
Sub Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 25-19]
Willard J. Davis, D.O.; Decision and Order
On November 13, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Willard J. Davis, D.O., of Round Rock, Texas (Respondent). OSC, at 1, 4. The OSC proposed the revocation of Respondent's DEA Certificate of Registration No. BD9134254, alleging that Respondent's DEA registration should be revoked because Respondent 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)).
On December 10, 2024 Respondent filed a request for a hearing. On December 30, 2024, the Government filed a Motion for Summary Disposition, which Respondent opposed. On January 23, 2025, Administrative Law Judge Teresa A. Wallbaum (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 Texas, the state in which he is registered with DEA, "[t]here is no genuine issue of material fact in this case." Order Granting the Government's Motion for Summary Disposition, and Recommended Rulings, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision of the Administrative Law Judge (RD), at 6. 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 May 16, 2024, the Texas Medical Board suspended Respondent's Texas medical license. RD, at 3. 1 According to Texas online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Respondent's Texas medical license remains suspended. 2 Texas Medical Board Healthcare Provider Search, https://profile.tmb.state.tx.us (last visited date of signature of this Order).
Footnotes:
1 ? See also Government's Notice of Filing of Evidence and Motion for Summary Disposition, Exhibit 1, at 3-6.
2 ?Under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency "may take official notice of facts at any stage in a proceeding-even in the final decision." United States Department of Justice, Attorney General's Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act 80 (1947) (Wm. W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc., Reprint 1979).
[top] Accordingly, the Agency finds that Respondent is not currently licensed to
Footnotes:
3 ?Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 556(e), "[w]hen an agency decision rests on official notice of a material fact not appearing in the evidence in the record, a party is entitled, on timely request, to an opportunity to show the contrary." The material fact here is that Registrant, as of the date of this decision, is not licensed to practice medicine in Texas. Accordingly, Respondent may dispute the Agency's finding by filing a properly supported motion for reconsideration of findings of fact within fifteen calendar days of the date of this Order. Any such motion and response shall be filed and served by email to the other party and to Office of the Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration at dea.addo.attorneys@dea.gov.
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). 4
Footnotes:
4 ?This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the CSA. First, Congress defined the term "practitioner" to mean "a physician . . . or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, by . . . the jurisdiction in which he practices . . . , to distribute, dispense, . . . [or] administer . . . a controlled substance in the course of professional practice." 21 U.S.C. 802(21). Second, in setting the requirements for obtaining a practitioner's registration, Congress directed that "[t]he Attorney General shall register practitioners . . . if the applicant is authorized to dispense . . . controlled substances under the laws of the State in which he practices." 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(1). Because Congress has clearly mandated that a practitioner possess state authority in order to be deemed a practitioner under the CSA, DEA has held repeatedly that revocation of a practitioner's registration is the appropriate sanction whenever he is no longer authorized to dispense controlled substances under the laws of the state in which he practices. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, M.D., 76 FR 71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, M.D., 71 FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 51104, 51105 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27617.
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 Ann. section?481.002(12) (2024). Further, a "practitioner" includes "a physician . . . or other person 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. section?481.002(39)(A).
Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Respondent lacks authority to practice medicine in Texas. As discussed above, an individual must be a licensed practitioner to dispense a controlled substance in Texas. Thus, because Respondent lacks authority to practice medicine in Texas and, therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in Texas, Respondent is not eligible to maintain a DEA registration. RD, at 6. 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. BD9134254 issued to Willard J. Davis, D.O. 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 Willard J. Davis, D.O., to renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of Willard J. Davis, D.O., for additional registration in Texas. This Order is effective April 28, 2025.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on March 20, 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 .
Heather Achbach,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Drug Enforcement Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025-05166 Filed 3-26-25; 8:45 am]
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