Hiring Individuals With Access to Controlled Substances – DEA Waivers
DEA Waivers Necessary For Access To Controlled Substances
What is a “Convicted Felon” in the Eyes of the DEA
Most health care providers have implemented some sort of screening process for new employees, contractors and medical staff members. The screening process usually involves some sort of criminal background check along with review of the OIG and GSA exclusion lists.
One aspect of criminal background checks is rarely discussed and involves individuals who will have “access to controlled substances.” The Drug Enforcement Agency has rules that prohibit any DEA registrant from employing, as an employee or agent, any party who has ever been “convicted” of a felony involving controlled substances. No such person may ever be employed in a position where they will have “access to controlled substances” unless a waiver is obtained from the Administrator of the DEA.
I placed a few of the operative terms in quotes above for a reason. The exact definitions of these the terms “convicted of a felon'” and “access to controlled substances” is what makes application of this rule rather tricky. The first angle involves whether or not a potential employee, staff physician or other has had a “felony conviction” involving controlled substances. Oftentimes someone who is accused of a drug related crime under state law will plead “no contest” to a felony but the terms of the sentence will provide that the severity of the sentence will be reduced to a misdomeaner, or sometimes even dismissed, upon completion of terms of probation. If the terms of probation are successfully completed, a subsequent criminal record search may come up with the action having been dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor. No issue, right? Common sense would dictate that there is no felony conviction and the individual can be employed.
Wrong. The DEA rules consider there to have been a felony conviction even though the charges may have eventually been dismissed or reduced. This is applicable whenever there is a plea of “no contest” or “nolo contendre.” The DEA considers these please to be an admission of and a conviction of a felony offense. This can be highly problematic for a health care provider who is doing a record search and comes upon a case that may show up as a misdemeanor or having been dismissed. The provider must look further to determine whether the event could still be considered to be a felony by the DEA. If it is considered to be a felony, a Waiver must be sought from the DEA to employ or otherwise permit that individual to use the provider’s facilities. Waivers can be difficult and costly to obtain. There are no regulations guiding the process and the final decision is in the sole discretion of the Administrator of the DEA. There are no meaningful appeal rights.
Another thing that should be pointed out is that once a person is convicted of a felony (as defined by the DEA) that involves controlled substances, the issue carries along with the individual forever. A waiver only applies to a specific facility. The employee has no standing to apply for a waiver request. Every place that the employee wishes to work in the future will need to obtain a waiver.
It should be clarified that a waiver is only required if the individual will have “access to controlled substances.” This is the second definition that becomes important. There does not appear to be any regulation or case that defines when an individual is considered to have “access to controlled substances.” The DEA takes a fairly broad view that would generally prohibit any direct patient care. Practicing medicine in a hospital and most other settings is likely excluded. However, this definition probably does not extend to administrative tasks that do not involve seeing patients or being located in areas of the facility that do not hold controlled substances. Yet, the fact that there is no clear definition of “access to controlled substances” makes this rule very difficult to apply in a specific, practical situation.
The takeaway from all of this is that compliance departments, human resource departments, and credentialing departments may need to take a fresh look at this issue to be certain that they have systems in place to flag cases described in this article. The DEA may consider even a youthful drug conviction, that shows up as a dismissal or a misdemeanor on a criminal background check to be a felony. If the event is considered to be a felony, a health care organization cannot employ the individual in a position to have access to controlled substances without first obtaining a waiver from the DEA.
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Tags: certified healthcare compliance, CHC, Compliance Plans, DEA Waiver