[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 189 (Thursday, September 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58536-58537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21961]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Gilbert C. Aragon, Jr., D.O.; Revocation of Registration

    On January 5, 2004, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause to Gilbert C. Aragon, Jr., D.O. (Dr. Aragon) 
notifying him of an opportunity to show cause as to why DEA should not 
revoke his Certificate of Registration, BA4652714, and deny any pending 
applications for renewal or modification of such registration, pursuant 
to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(2) and (3), 21 U.S.C. 823(f). Specifically, the 
Order to Show Cause alleged in relevant part, the following:
    1. Effective May 17, 2002, the Texas State Board of Medical 
Examiners (Board) suspended Dr. Aragon's state medical license. The 
suspension was based upon an Agreed Order documenting Dr. Aragon's 
arrest by Dallas Police on November 20, 2000, for driving while 
intoxicated and possession of dangerous and controlled substances. 
After a plea agreement with local authorities, Dr. Aragon pled guilty 
to the charge of driving while intoxicated. Court documents also 
revealed that Dr. Aragon also admitted guilt to the offense of illegal 
drug possession, but the matter was not adjudicated. On June 8, 2001, 
Dr. Aragon was sentenced to 150 days in jail, which was probated for 
two years, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. The Board's suspension was 
further premised on Dr. Aragon's admission to police of having written 
fictitious prescriptions in the names of family members in order to 
assist his wife (who was addicted to drugs) illegally obtain 
hydrocodone. As a result of the actions taken by the Board, Dr. Aragon 
is currently without authority to handle controlled substances in 
Texas, the State in which he is registered with DEA.
    2. On November 30, 2000, May 12, 2001, and November 27, 2001, Dr. 
Aragon answered ``no'' to questions on his Medical Practice 
Questionnaire and Annual Registration Renewal forms inquiring if he had 
been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime or placed on probation.
    3. After being indicted by a Dallas County Grand Jury on January 
22, 2003, Dr. Aragon appeared before the 203rd Judicial District Court 
of Dallas County, Texas, and pled guilty to the third degree felony of 
``[u]nlawfully obtaining from a legally registered pharmacist, a 
controlled substance, to-wit: dihydrocodeinone, by the use of false or 
forged prescription on October 15,

[[Page 58537]]

2001.'' The court imposed a ten year penitentiary sentence, five years 
community supervision as well as a $4,000 fine and a fifteen day jail 
sentence as a condition of community supervision. In response to these 
matters, on September 25, 2003, the Board Staff filed a Complaint 
requesting a hearing on its merits and requesting that Dr. Aragon's 
medical license be suspended or revoked.
    4. Dr. Aragon's state medical license has been delinquent for non-
payment since December 30, 2002, and his Texas Department of Public 
Safety Controlled Substances Registration expired on January 31, 2003, 
and has not been renewed.
    The Order to Show Cause was initially sent by certified mail to Dr. 
Aragon at his registered location in Irving, Texas; however, the order 
was returned to DEA by the United States Postal Service with a stamped 
notation: ``attempted, not known.'' On February 6, 2004, DEA mailed 
copies of the Order to Show Cause to Dr. Aragon at a residential 
location in Las Vegas, New Mexico, with an additional copy sent to a 
purported work address in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. The order sent to the 
purported work address was returned unclaimed, but the second order 
sent to the residential location was accepted on behalf of Dr. Aragon 
on February 9, 2004. DEA has not received a request for hearing or any 
other reply from Dr. Aragon or anyone purporting to represent him in 
this matter.
    Therefore, the Deputy Administrator of DEA, finding that (1) thirty 
days having passed since the delivery of the Order to Show Cause to the 
registrant's address of record, as well as to a second address, and (2) 
no request for hearing having been received, concludes that Dr. Aragon 
is deemed to have waived his hearing right. See David W. Linder, 67 FR 
12579 (2002). After considering material from the investigative file in 
this matter, the Deputy Administrator now enters her final order 
without a hearing pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(d) and (e) and 1301.46.
    The Deputy Administrator finds that Dr. Aragon is currently 
registered with DEA as a practitioner. According to information in the 
investigative file, on or about May 15, 2002, Dr. Aragon entered into 
an Agreed Order with the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners 
(Board). Dr. Aragon and the Board agreed, inter alia, that Dr. Aragon's 
state medical license be suspended until he completed various terms and 
conditions for reinstatement, including the completion of a 96-hour 
inpatient evaluation, conducted by or under the direction of a 
psychiatrist to evaluate Dr. Aragon for substance abuse or an organic 
mental condition. The Agreed Order resulted from findings by the Board 
that on November 20, 2000, Dr. Aragon was arrested by the Dallas 
(Texas) Police and charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI).
    In addition, the Board found that Dr. Aragon was charged with 
illegal possession of dangerous and controlled substances. The Agreed 
Order also referenced Dr. Aragon's subsequent plea agreement with the 
Dallas District Attorney's Office, where he plead guilty and was 
convicted of the DWI offense. The Agreed Order further referenced Dr. 
Aragon's admission of guilt to ``the unadjudicated [sic] offenses of 
illegal drug possession, and his subsequent sentencing on June 8, 2001 
to ``150 days in jail probated for two years and a $2,000.00 fine.'' 
The Board made additional findings regarding Dr. Aragon's writing of 
fictitious prescriptions in the names of family members and leaving 
blank prescriptions for the use of his physician assistants when he was 
not in the office.
    Information in the investigative file also shows Dr. Aragon's state 
medical license has been delinquent for non-payment since December 30, 
2002, and his Texas Department of Public Safety Controlled Substances 
Registration expired on January 31, 2003, and has not been renewed.
    There is no evidence before the Deputy Administrator that Dr. 
Aragon has satisfied the conditions of the Board for reinstatement of 
his medical license, or that the Board suspension order has been stayed 
or lifted. Moreover, there is no evidence in the investigative file 
that Dr. Aragon's state controlled substance privileges have been 
renewed, or otherwise reinstated.
    Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a), the Deputy Administrator may revoke a 
DEA Certificate of Registration if she finds that the registrant has 
had his state license revoked and is no longer authorized to dispense 
controlled substances or has committed such acts as would render his 
registration contrary to the public interest as determined by factors 
listed in 21 U.S.C. 823(f). Thomas B. Pilkowski, D.D.S., 57 FR 28538 
(1992). Nevertheless, despite findings of the Board regarding Dr. 
Aragon's inappropriate conduct with respect to use of alcohol and his 
unlawful possession of dangerous and controlled substances, and 
notwithstanding the other public interest factors for the revocation of 
his DEA registration asserted herein, the more relevant consideration 
here is the present status of Dr. Aragon's state authorization to 
handle controlled substances.
    DEA does not have statutory authority under the Controlled 
Substances Act to issue or maintain a registration if the applicant or 
registrant is without state authority to handle controlled substances 
in the state in which he conducts business. See 21 U.S.C. 802(21), 
823(f) and 824(a)(3). This prerequisite has been consistently upheld. 
See Rory Patrick Doyle, M.D., 69 FR 11655 (2004); Dominick A. Ricci, 
M.D., 58 FR 51104 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11919 (1988).
    Here, it is clear that Dr. Aragon's Texas medical license has been 
suspended, his state controlled substance registration has expired, and 
as a result, he is currently not licensed under Texas law to handle 
these products. Therefore, he is not entitled to a DEA registration in 
that state. As a result of a finding that Dr. Aragon lacks state 
authorization to handle controlled substances, the Deputy Administrator 
concludes that it is unnecessary to address further whether his DEA 
registration should be revoked based upon the public interest grounds 
asserted in the Order to Show Cause. See Samuel Silas Jackson, D.D.S., 
67 FR 65145 (2002); Nathaniel-Aikens-Afful, M.D., 62 FR 16871 (1997); 
Sam F. Moore, D.V.M. 58 FR 14428 (1993).
    Accordingly, the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, pursuant to the authority vested in her by 21 U.S.C. 
823 and 824 and 28 CFR 0.100(b) and 0.104, hereby orders that DEA 
Certificate of Registration, BA4652714, issued to Gilbert C. Aragon, 
Jr., D.O., be, and it hereby is, revoked. The Deputy Administrator 
further orders that any pending applications for renewal or 
modification of such registration be, and they hereby are, denied. This 
order is effective November 1, 2004.

    Dated: September 8, 2004.
Michele M. Leonhart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-21961 Filed 9-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-M