[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81549-81550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23170]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Merry Alice Troupe, N.P.; Decision and Order

    On February 14, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or 
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Merry Alice Troupe, 
N.P., of Tucson, Arizona (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action 
(RFAA), Exhibit (RFAAX) 1, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of 
Registrant's DEA Certificate of Registration No. MT3167384, alleging 
that Registrant's registration should be revoked because Registrant is 
``currently without authority to handle controlled substances in 
Arizona, the state in which [she is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 
(citing 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3)).
    The OSC notified Registrant of her right to file with DEA a written 
request for hearing, and that if she failed to file such a request, she 
would be deemed to have waived her right to a hearing and be in 
default. Id. at 2 (citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not

[[Page 81550]]

request a hearing. RFAA, at 2.\1\ ``A default, unless excused, shall be 
deemed to constitute a waiver of the registrant's . . . . right to a 
hearing and an admission of the factual allegations of the [OSC].'' 21 
CFR 1301.43(e).
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    \1\ Based on the Government's submissions in its RFAA dated May 
6, 2024, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on Registrant was 
adequate. Specifically, the submitted Declaration from a DEA 
Diversion Investigator indicates that Registrant was personally 
served with the OSC on February 14, 2024. RFAAX 2, at 1-2.
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    Further, ``[i]n the event that a registrant . . . is deemed to be 
in default . . . DEA may then file a request for final agency action 
with the Administrator, along with a record to support its request. In 
such circumstances, the Administrator may enter a default final order 
pursuant to [21 CFR] Sec.  1316.67.'' Id. Sec.  1301.43(f)(1). Here, 
the Government has requested final agency action based on Registrant's 
default pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(c), (d), 1301.46. RFAA, at 1; see 
also 21 CFR 1316.67.

Findings of Fact

    The Agency finds that, in light of Registrant's default, the 
factual allegations in the OSC are admitted. According to the OSC, on 
June 29, 2023, Registrant voluntarily surrendered her Arizona 
registered nurse license and her Arizona certified nurse practitioner 
license. RFAAX 1, at 2. According to Arizona online records, of which 
the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's Arizona registered nurse 
license and Arizona certified nurse practitioner license are both 
listed as voluntarily surrendered and inactive.\2\ https://www.nursys.com/LQC/LQCViewReport.aspx (last visited date of signature 
of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency finds that Registrant is not 
licensed to practice as a nurse practitioner or registered nurse in 
Arizona, the state in which she is registered with DEA.
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    \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). 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.'' Accordingly, Registrant 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#214544400f4045454e0f4055554e534f445852614544400f464e57"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="096d6c6827686d6d6627687d7d667b676c707a496d6c68276e667f">[email protected]</span></a>.
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Discussion

    Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(3), the Attorney General is authorized 
to suspend or revoke a registration issued under 21 U.S.C. 823 ``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, 71372 (2011), pet. for 
rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); Frederick Marsh Blanton, 
M.D., 43 FR 27616, 27617 (1978).\3\
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    \3\ This rule derives from the text of two provisions of the 
Controlled Substances Act (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, 76 FR 71371-72; Sheran Arden Yeates, D.O., 71 
FR 39130, 39131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, D.O., 58 FR 51104, 51105 
(1993); Bobby Watts, D.O., 53 FR 11919, 11920 (1988); Frederick 
Marsh Blanton, 43 FR 27617.
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    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 Sec.  32-1901 . . .'' Ariz. Rev. 
Stat. Ann. section 36-2522(A) (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 Registrant 
lacks authority to practice as a nurse practitioner or registered nurse 
in Arizona. As discussed above, only a licensed medical practitioner 
can dispense controlled substances in Arizona. Thus, because Registrant 
lacks authority to practice as a nurse practitioner or registered nurse 
in Arizona and, therefore, is not currently authorized to handle 
controlled substances in Arizona, 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. 
MT3167384 issued to Merry Alice Troupe, N.P. 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 Merry Alice Troupe, N.P., to 
renew or modify this registration, as well as any other pending 
application of Merry Alice Troupe, N.P., for additional registration in 
Arizona. This Order is effective November 7, 2024.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
October 1, 2024, 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.

Heather Achbach,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Drug Enforcement Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-23170 Filed 10-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P


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