Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Discusses Due Process Rights in Medical Professional’s DEA Registration

Medical professionals authorized by Kansas, Missouri, or another of state in the Union, to dispense narcotics must further register with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA. The DEA’s Diversion Control Division maintains registrant’s records, and according to the authority conferred to it by 21 United States Code (USC) Sections 823 and 824. Medical practitioners cannot prescribe medications unless their DEA registration is active. Therefore, maintaining an active registration with the DEA is vital to conducting a medical practice in Kansas or Missouri. In essence, therefore, the doctor is only as good as the medication he or she can prescribe.

Section 824 grants authority to the Attorney General, or his or her designees, to revoke DEA registrations of medical practitioners according to guidelines set forth in the statute. Furthermore, Article 21 of the Code of Federation Regulations explicate the authority an Attorney General’s designees can assert.

Under the statute, the DEA recognizes a medical practitioner as one who must be licensed under the state law to practice medicine and dispense medications. If the practitioner loses the authority to dispense drugs because of state action, then the medical practitioner’s registration to under the DEA is essentially automatically revoked.

The DEA will investigate to determine if the medical practitioner has current authority conferred by state law. The DEA ruled earlier in 2019 that it has the authority to revoke a doctor’s registration even though the state in which the doctor is admitted to practice revoked his authority to dispense medication by a summary procedure rather than after a full hearing.

The Attorney General reserved authority in itself to revoke a registration under Section 824(d) in an emergency situation. The Attorney General must find that the medical practitioner is an immediate danger to the safety or health of the public. The immediate threat of death, serious bodily harm, or abuse of any controlled substance. A suspension for an immediate danger can be reversed by the Attorney General or a court having jurisdiction over the case.

Under Section 824, the Attorney General has the obligation to give notice to the medical practitioner under suspicion of misconduct that a hearing will be held for the medical practitioner to show good cause why his or her registration should not be revoked or suspended.  The physician has the burden to present evidence to rebut the presumption that the DEA registration must be revoked.

The government must give actual notice to the doctor facing discipline by the DEA. Section 824 requires the Attorney General to include in the documents served upon the medical practitioner a statement of facts substantiating the Attorney General’s position that denial, revocation, or suspicion of the DEA registration is appropriate, along with a statement of applicable laws and regulations governing the hearing. The notice must also include a summons to appear before the Attorney General to attend a hearing on the merits of the Attorney General’s petition. The medical practitioner will be directed to appear before the Attorney General 30 days after receipt of the notice.

Section 824 grants the doctor the opportunity to submit a corrective action plan to the Attorney General before the hearing on the merits of the case. The Attorney General must review the corrective action plan and take it into consideration before rendering a decision on the case. The Attorney General can take appropriate action on the corrective action plan filed by the petitioner.

Medical Professionals Facing the Threat of Licensing Discipline Must Contact Attorney Sanger Immediately

Contact Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule an immediate consultation if you are a medical profession notified by the Drug Enforcement Administration that you are facing revocation of your registration.

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