Registrant Actions - 2012
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35054-35055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14315]
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 11-13]
Donald Brooks Reece II, M.D.; Dismissal of Proceeding
On November 19, 2010, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration, issued an Order to
Show Cause to Donald Brooks Reece II, M.D. (Respondent), of Morehead
City, N.C. The Order proposed the revocation of Respondent's DEA
Certificate of Registration as a practitioner, and the denial of any
pending application to renew or modify the registration, on the ground
that Respondent's registration is inconsistent with the public interest
as that term is defined in 21 U.S.C. 823(f). Show Cause Order at 1
(citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(4)).
Respondent requested a hearing on the allegations and an
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) conducted a hearing on May 9-13, 2011.
Thereafter, on September 30, 2011, the ALJ issued his decision, which
concluded that "Respondent's continued registration would be fully
inconsistent with the public interest," and recommended that his
registration be revoked and that any pending application to renew or
modify his registration be denied. ALJ at 33. Respondent filed
Exceptions, and on November 21, 2011, the ALJ forwarded the record to
this Office for final agency action.\1\
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\1\ On February 9, 2012, the Government also filed a pleading
entitled: "Notice To The Administrator Regarding State Authority,"
with attachments. Therein, the Government observed that Respondent
had entered into a Consent Order with the North Carolina Medical
Board, pursuant to which he agreed to cease the practice of medicine
or surgery in North Carolina, the State in which he held his DEA
registration. Notice to the Administrator Regarding State Authority,
at 3. This Order was effective on December 8, 2011. Id., Attachment
5, at 6.
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Upon review of the record, it was noted that Respondent's
registration was due to expire on April 30, 2012. GX 1. Because in the
absence of a timely renewal application, Respondent's registration
would expire, see 5 U.S.C. 558(c), pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 556(e) and 21
CFR 1316.59(e), I have taken official notice of Respondent's
registration record with the Agency.\2\ According to
[[Page 35055]]
this record, Respondent has not filed a renewal application. I
therefore find that Respondent's registration has expired.
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\2\ In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA),
an agency "may take official notice of facts at any stage in a
proceeding-even in the final decision." U.S. Dept. of Justice,
Attorney General's Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act 80
(1947) (Wm. W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc., Reprint 1979). In accordance with
the APA and DEA's regulations, Respondent is "entitled on timely
request to an opportunity to show to the contrary." 5 U.S.C.
556(e); see also 21 CFR 1316.59(e). To allow Respondent the
opportunity to refute the facts of which I take official notice,
Respondent may file a motion for reconsideration within fifteen
calendar days of service of this order which shall commence on the
date this order is mailed.
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Under DEA precedent, "if a registrant has not submitted a timely
renewal application prior to the expiration date, then the registration
expires and there is nothing to revoke." Ronald J. Riegel, 63 FR
67132, 67133 (1998); see also Thomas E. Mitchell, 76 FR 20032, 20033
(2011). Moreover, in the absence of an application (whether timely
filed or not), there is nothing to act upon. Accordingly, because
Respondent has allowed his registration to expire and has not filed
either a renewal or a new application, this case is now moot and will
be dismissed.
Order
Pursuant to the authority vested in me by 21 U.S.C. 824(a), as well
as 28 CFR 0.100(b), I hereby order that the Order to Show Cause issued
to Donald Brooks Reece II, M.D., be, and it hereby is, dismissed. This
Order is effective immediately.
Dated: June 2, 2012.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012-14315 Filed 6-11-12; 8:45 am]
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NOTICE: This is an unofficial version. An official version of this publication may be obtained
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