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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 6 (Friday, January 10, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2028-2029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00395]

[[Page 2028]]

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration

Kim Routh, D.O.; Decision and Order

    On May 1, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or 
Government) issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to Kim Routh, D.O., of 
Grove City, Ohio (Registrant). Request for Final Agency Action (RFAA), 
Exhibit (RFAAX) C, at 1, 3. The OSC proposed the revocation of 
Registrant's Certificate of Registration No. BR9077000, alleging that 
Registrant's registration should be revoked because Registrant is 
``currently without authority to prescribe, administer, dispense, or 
otherwise handle controlled substances in the State of Ohio, the state 
in which [he is] registered with DEA.'' Id. at 2 (citing 21 U.S.C. 
824(a)(3)).
    The OSC notified Registrant of his right to file a written request 
for hearing, and that if he failed to file such a request, he would be 
deemed to have waived his right to a hearing and be in default. Id. 
(citing 21 CFR 1301.43). Here, Registrant did not 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 June 
11, 2024, the Agency finds that service of the OSC on Registrant was 
adequate. The included declaration from a DEA Diversion Investigator 
(DI) indicates that on May 6, 2024, Registrant was personally served 
with a copy of the OSC. RFAAX 1, at 2; RFAAX D.
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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] 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), (f), 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 
February 14, 2024, the State Medical Board of Ohio permanently revoked 
Registrant's Ohio medical license. RFAAX 2, at 2. According to Ohio 
online records, of which the Agency takes official notice, Registrant's 
Ohio medical license remains revoked.\2\ eLicense Ohio Professional 
Licensure License Lookup, https://elicense.ohio.gov/oh_verifylicense 
(last visited date of signature of this Order). Accordingly, the Agency 
finds that Registrant is not licensed to practice medicine in Ohio, the 
state in which he 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 [email protected].
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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. 
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. Sec.  802(21).''). The Agency has applied these principles 
consistently. See, e.g., James L. Hooper, M.D., 76 FR 71,371, 71,372 
(2011), pet. for rev. denied, 481 F. App'x 826 (4th Cir. 2012); 
Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR 27,616, 27,617 (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, M.D., 76 FR at 71,371-72; Sheran Arden Yeats, 
M.D., 71 FR 39,130, 39,131 (2006); Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 
51,104, 51,105 (1993); Bobby Watts, M.D., 53 FR 11,919, 11,920 
(1988); Frederick Marsh Blanton, M.D., 43 FR at 27,617.
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    According to Ohio statute, ``[n]o person shall knowingly obtain, 
possess, or use a controlled substance or a controlled substance 
analog,'' except pursuant to a ``prescription issued by a licensed 
health professional authorized to prescribe drugs if the prescription 
was issued for a legitimate medical purpose.'' Ohio Rev. Code Ann. 
Sec.  2925.11(A), (B)(1)(d) (West 2024). Further, a `` `[l]icensed 
health professional authorized to prescribe drugs' or `prescriber' 
means an individual who is authorized by law to prescribe drugs or 
dangerous drugs or drug therapy related devices in the course of the 
individual's professional practice.'' Id. Sec.  4729.01(I). The Ohio 
statute further defines an authorized prescriber as ``[a] physician 
authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine 
and surgery, osteopathic medicine and surgery, or podiatric medicine 
and surgery.'' Id. Sec.  4729.01(I)(4). Additionally, Ohio law permits 
``[a] licensed health professional authorized to prescribe drugs, if 
acting in the course of professional practice, in accordance with the 
laws regulating the professional's practice'' to prescribe or 
administer schedule II, III, IV, and V controlled substances to 
patients. Id. Sec.  3719.06(A)(1)(a)-(b).
    Here, the undisputed evidence in the record is that Registrant 
lacks a license to practice medicine in Ohio. As discussed above, an 
individual must be a licensed health professional authorized to 
prescribe drugs in order to handle controlled substances in Ohio. Thus, 
because Registrant lacks a license to practice medicine in Ohio and, 
therefore, is not authorized to handle controlled substances in Ohio, 
Registrant is not eligible to maintain a DEA registration. Accordingly, 
the Agency will order that Registrant's DEA registration be revoked.

[[Page 2029]]

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. 
BR9077000 issued to Kim Routh, 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 Kim Routh, D.O., to renew or 
modify this registration, as well as any other pending application of 
Kim Routh, D.O., for additional registration in Ohio. This Order is 
effective February 10, 2025.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Drug Enforcement Administration was signed on 
January 3, 2025, 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. 2025-00395 Filed 1-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-P
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