Voluntarily surrendering a DEA controlled substance registration certificate is the worst decision a healthcare practitioner can make. It happens all too routinely — and it has cost medical practitioners their career.
The scenario usually starts with an agent clad in a DEA jacket arriving at your practice. He begins asking you questions regarding your prescribing habits. Wishfully thinking this is just a routine inspection, you as a practitioner dutifully answers all of the agent’s questions.
At the end of the interview, the DEA agent informs you that you are “in big trouble” and that “practicing is the least of your concerns.” This is followed by: “It would make it easier for you if you just voluntarily surrender your DEA controlled substance registration certificate.”
And then: “If you do not surrender your DEA certificate of registration, we will revoke it anyway.” Finally, the agent shoves an innocuous voluntary surrender form and pen across the table.
Feeling confused, scared and fearing the consequences of the recent raid, inspection or interview, it’s here when you sign your career away with the stroke of a pen.
Regardless of the magnitude of the investigation, taking legal advice from a DEA agent is like taking financial advice from a con man. The only hope is that, in those fleeting moments of clarity, you step away from the agent and call a health care law attorney skilled in DEA matters.
There are three reasons why DEA certificate of registration surrender is a bad idea:
In order to suspend or revoke your DEA registration, the Attorney General must prove one of the following factors:
Prior to revocation, the Attorney General must provide you with an “Order to Show Cause” why your registration should not be denied, revoked, or suspended. You must respond within 30 days of the order and administrative proceedings will commence pursuant to Section 1301.41.
In certain “emergency” situations, the Attorney General may suspend any registration simultaneously with the institution of proceedings where he or she finds that there is an “imminent danger to the public health or safety.” Therefore, if you refuse to voluntarily surrender your DEA controlled substance registration certificate, the DEA will be required to submit an order to show cause and provide you with an opportunity for a hearing.
Conversely, if you surrender your DEA registration, you are waiving your right to a hearing and you would be required to reapply for your registration after the resolution of the criminal, civil or administrative proceedings against you. Resolution of these matters could take a significant amount of time — possibly years.
In May 2014, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report citing extreme delays in the adjudication process for suspensions, revocations, and denials of DEA registrations. The OIG concluded that “delays in the adjudication of registrant actions create risks to the public health and safety” as well as to the licensee.
The OIG found that adjudication could take more than one year between notification of hearing and agency action, which it deemed “very lengthy.” The OIG also noted that the Agency has “consistently failed to meet its own timeliness standards in adjudicating immediate suspension orders.”
As a result of the OIG’s review, it is clear why DEA agents routinely try to convince registrants they should surrender their DEA registration voluntarily and waive their right to a hearing. Given the extreme backlog of cases pending adjudication, a practitioner may continue prescribing until final adjudication by the agency is completed. As noted, this could take over a year.
If the Agency proceeds with an immediate suspension order, the significant delays in DEA adjudication could impact the practitioner negatively. In 2012, the DEA took 459 days to adjudicate an immediate suspension order. However, when faced with the choice of voluntary DEA registration surrender without a hearing and immediate suspension, the practitioner should almost always exercise their right to due process and request a hearing, because:
Finally, if you voluntarily surrender your license and seek reinstatement, these delays will further impact your ability to return to practice after the completion of your pending administrative, criminal or civil matter.
While the laws governing the prescription of controlled substances are different in every state, most states require a controlled substance license in order to prescribe Schedule II through IV substances. When a physician, pain management specialist, chiropractor, or other healthcare practitioner voluntarily surrenders his/her DEA registration, there is a significant chance that the practitioner’s state may take independent action to revoke, limit or suspend the practitioner’s state license.
Often, there is a domino effect when administrative action (including voluntary surrender of DEA certificate of registration) taken by the DEA or a state in which the practitioner holds a license ripples into other states and can cause significant legal expenses, adverse administrative action and state sanctions.
Refusing to voluntarily surrender your DEA registration will delay this domino effect and possibly prevent it — if you and your attorney are successful in resolving the pending criminal, administrative or civil action.
Additionally, most hospital credentialing bodies and insurers require a DEA license as a condition of employment or participation. Voluntary surrender of your DEA registration may trigger a mandatory reporting requirement to your credentialing body and participating insurers, which could lead to swift and harsh credentialing action and loss of privileges.
Practitioners rarely benefit from a voluntary DEA registration surrender. Any agent’s promise that DEA registration certificate surrender will provide a benefit should fall on deaf ears, unless it is specifically negotiated by counsel in exchange for some other relief.
When the DEA agent slides a “Voluntary Surrender of Controlled Substances Privileges” form across the table and asks you to voluntarily surrenders your DEA certificate, politely slide that form back and contact an national healthcare-oriented criminal defense attorney who specializes in DEA matters.
At Chapman Law Group, our national team of DEA defense attorneys have the know-how to defend DEA registrants both during DEA investigations and in subsequent DEA actions. We protect practitioners, pharmacies, distributors, and other registrants across the U.S. from losing their DEA registration, whether by voluntary surrender or by DEA order.
The national healthcare criminal law attorneys at Chapman Law Group have extensive experience in DEA immediate suspension orders and DEA investigations, as well as other DEA matters such as drug trafficking and drug diversion; conspiracy to possess, dispense, or distribute controlled substances; and revocation or denial of DEA registration.
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