2024-23170. Merry Alice Troupe, N.P.; Decision and Order

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Department of Justice

Drug Enforcement Administration

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 ( print 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).

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. § 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 also21 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.

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]

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 §  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.

Footnotes

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.

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 [e-mail].

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.