Wesley Pope, M.D.; Decision and Order

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration [Docket No. 15-8] On October 8, 2014, the former Deputy Assistant Administrator of the then-Office of Diversion Control, issued an Order to Show Cause to Wesley Pope, M.D. (hereinafter, Respondent), of Newcastle, Oklahoma. ALJ Ex. 1, at 1. The Show Cause Order proposed the denial of Respondent's application for a new Certificate of Registration as a practitioner in schedules II through V, on the ground that his registration would be “inconsistent with the public interest.” Id. (citing 21 U.S.C. 823(f) ). As support for the proposed denial, the Government alleged that “[f]rom on or about August 25, 2011 through on or about May 9, 2012, [Respondent] issued controlled substance prescriptions to [patient] B.B. in violation of Federal and Oklahoma . . . law.” Id. The Government specifically alleged that “on each of the occasions that [Respondent] issued controlled substance prescriptions to B.B.,” Respondent was “aware . . . that he presented a high risk of abuse and/or diversion of controlled substances, as evidenced by the red flags documented in his patient file, such as aberrant urine drug tests, a request for early refills, and a claim of stolen drugs.” Id. The Government then alleged that Respondent “failed to address and, in fact, ignored these red flags, continuing to issue B.B. controlled substances [sic] prescriptions in the face of mounting evidence that he was mi…