River Forest Pharmacy, Inc. v. Drug Enforcement Administration

This petition for review questions the propriety of an order of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration which increased the sanction recommended by an administrative law judge (law judge) from a six-month suspension of petitioner pharmacy’s Certificate of Registration to a two-year suspension. The order assertedly is “arbitrary, capricious, [and] an abuse of discretion,” 5 U.S.C. § 706(2) (A). 1

River Forest Pharmacy, Inc., is wholly owned by Norman Tankel, a pharmacist who operates the drugstore with the assistance of his family. In January 1973, Tankel pleaded guilty to four counts of…