Protecting your DEA registration during practice transitions

For many veterinarians, a DEA registration is simply a tool of the trade—a routine requirement for daily practice. However, when a DEA registration is used to order and maintain a controlled substance inventory as opposed to only prescribing controlled substances. Whether you are selling your practice, accepting a new role such as a medical director position that requires use of your personal practitioner DEA registration to order controlled substances on behalf of a practice, or retiring, periods of transition can significantly increase your liability as a DEA registrant if your controlled substance inventory is not properly handled.

Too many veterinarians leave their DEA registrations active, neglect to update primary location of record with the DEA or agree to be the DEA registrant of record for a facility they now no longer actively oversee operations. Often times, this happens due to pressure during business purchases. This is a critical error. The DEA does not care who owns the business; they care who is registered to order and maintain the controlled substance inventory. Under federal law, the DEA registrant of record is the responsible party.

When ordering controlled substances using a personal DEA practitioner registration, you are 100% responsible for ensuring that all associated requirements that come with a DEA registration are met. The top priority as an ordering DEA registrant is to provide effective controls and procedures to guard against theft and diversion of controlled substances.¹

Those responsibilities also include but are not limited to:

• Secure and proper storage of controlled substances.
• Ensuring adequate physical security and access controls at your registered location.
• Maintaining all required records per 21 CFR 1304.²
• Effectively vetting any individuals being authorized to work with your controlled substance inventory.
• Proper wasting, disposal and destruction of controlled substances.
• Secure storage of any DEA Form-222s and/or DEA Controlled Substance ordering System (CSOS) credentials and prescription pads.
• Adhering to DEA and state reporting requirements like theft/loss reporting and prescription drug monitoring programs as applicable.
• Ensuring your controlled substance inventory is properly managed during any transitions involving changes to your existing capacities.

Selling your practice: YOU own the controlled substance inventory

A dangerous misconception in veterinary practice sales is that the controlled substance inventory "belongs" to the purchasing individual or business entity after the sale. This is not the case. Under federal law, the DEA registrant is the legal owner of all controlled substances ordered under their DEA registration number regardless of who paid for them. If controlled substances were purchased under an individual DEA practitioner registration, the individual named on the DEA Form-223 Certificate of Registration legally owns the inventory.

Do not be intimidated by employers or buyers who may suggest otherwise because the federal law is very clear. When an individual practitioner DEA registration is used, controlled substance inventory ownership and responsibility rests entirely on whose registration was used to order controlled substances; not an employer, corporation, business owner, landlord or any other person or entity other than the named individual on the DEA registration.³

If your DEA registration was used to order the controlled substances, it’s your legal property, not the property of the company. It does not matter if your employment agreement includes a clause stating that if your employment capacity with the employer terminates you agree to transfer any remaining controlled substance inventory prior to leaving. Any decisions to conduct a transfer are at the discretion of the DEA registrant who legally owns the inventory. It cannot and should not be influenced by another party. Employment agreements and company policies cannot supersede federal law.

If you are selling your practice and have an existing controlled substance inventory, keep in mind:

• A DEA registration is not delegable: The DEA granted YOU, the individual, privilege of ordering-controlled substances. You cannot abdicate or delegate any aspect of your DEA registrant responsibilities or privileges to any person or entity.
• Discontinuing your ordering capacities as a DEA registrant does not remove responsibility or liability: You cannot simply leave your controlled substance inventory behind at a facility or walk away from a role wherein controlled substances were being ordered under your DEA registration. Your responsibilities as a DEA registrant do not end when you sell your practice. Similarly, your controlled substance inventory is not part of the sale and must be handled separately. Just as a DEA registration cannot be delegated, DEA controlled substance inventory cannot be “sold”.
• During a sale, DEA registrants must properly “transition” any remaining controlled substance inventory in 1 of 3 ways: Transferring, reverse distributing, or taking them to your new DEA-registered location
• If you are transferring, transfer correctly: Controlled substances may only be transferred between DEA registrants. If you choose to transfer, you must request written approval from the DEA to do so before initiating a transfer.⁴ If the DEA does not deny your request, you may proceed with the transfer to another DEA registrant. Controlled substance transfers are multifaceted and involve a myriad of steps and documentation, all of which must be correctly completed and maintained by both the transferring and receiving DEA registrants.
• If you are destroying, use a DEA-registered reverse distributor: DEA-registered is key here. Not all pharmaceutical return services are DEA-registered. “Reverse distributor” is a type of DEA registration based on the activity being performed, such as destruction of controlled substances on behalf of another DEA registrant. If you do not know if a pharmaceutical return company is DEA-registered, ask. Do not waste your remaining controlled substance inventory. Use a DEA-registered reverse distributor who will provide you with a “Certificate of Destruction” to officially close out your DEA records.
• If you take your inventory with you, update your address of record: If you practice in a state that requires a separate state controlled substance license, you must update the address on your state license before updating your DEA registration and the addresses must match. Every DEA registration is tied to a valid state license you try to update your DEA registration first the address you enter will not match what is reflected on your state-controlled substance license. This will cause your DEA address change to get denied.
• Document everything: Whether you transfer, destroy, or take your controlled substance inventory to a new registered location, remember to thoroughly document everything. Regulations require DEA records to be retained at the registered location in a “readily retrievable” manner for the current two-year period. Before you transition out of an ordering DEA registrant capacity, make sure your original DEA records are accurate, complete, properly organized, and separated out from all other records at that registered location.^5,6

The "nominal" DEA registrant trap

Do not be surprised if an employer, business owner, or management pressures you to keep your DEA registration active at a practice or facility you are transitioning out of. If you practice in a state that requires a veterinarian to be listed on a facility premises permit, do not be surprised if you are asked to have your name listed as a “Managing Licensee” on a premises permit for a facility you do not actively oversee or work at.

Remember, you can say no. You are under no obligation to allow an employer or business to use your personal DEA registration for their ordering needs. You are also not required to be a named party on a premises permit (exceptions would include this being a stated requirement as part of a buyer-seller agreement).

Also, beware of "Pay-to-Play." While you may be offered compensation to be the DEA registrant or permit holder, understand exactly what you are selling because you are selling your professional accountability. If diversion occurs, or if logs are missing, the DEA will come after the name on the registration.

It is important to also recognize the pressure. If you are being threatened or pressured to take on these roles, proceed with extreme caution. Be wary of bribery or coercion, and prioritize your license to practice veterinary medicine over a business owner's convenience.

Understanding the burden as a medical director

Stepping into a medical director-type role often comes with the expectation that by doing so you agree to use your personal DEA practitioner registration to order controlled substances on behalf of a facility. In these circumstances, do not accept a role with this type of obligation blindly. You should first:

• Understand the scope: Know exactly what happens to the inventory when you eventually leave.
• Get compensated: If you are assuming the liability, you must be compensated for that specific risk. Never assume the legal burden of a DEA registration for free or as a generic "part of the job."
• Plan your exit: When you take the job, plan how you will disassociate yourself from the inventory and processes when your tenure ends.

The bottom line

An individual DEA practitioner registration is a personal registration granted to you, not to a business or facility, unless “hospital/clinic” is listed as the “Activity” on your DEA Form-223 practitioner registration, which is a different type of registration. An individual DEA practitioner registration means the DEA has granted the personal privilege of a DEA registration. You retain all rights related to that registration and have a federal legal obligation to ensure that your registration, and any controlled substance inventory associated with it, are secured at all times and never misused. No one can tell you how to handle your controlled substance inventory during a transition. All decisions regarding that inventory are yours and yours alone.

If you are no longer in a position to oversee your controlled substance inventory, you are no longer in a position to be the ordering DEA registrant of record. If you change facilities, the address on your DEA registration needs to change to reflect your new practice. If you are not immediately relocating to a new practice location but do not want to terminate your registration, DEA regulations do not prohibit individuals from using their home address.⁷

In closing, anytime your role as a DEA registrant transitions, make sure to properly transition your controlled substance inventory so that when you leave, you leave the liability behind.

References

1. Security requirements generally. 21 CFR 1301.71(a). Code of Federal Regulations website. Published September 21, 1971. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/part-1301/section-1301.71#p-1301.71(a)
2. Part 1304. Records and reports of registrants. Code of Federal Regulations website. Published April 6, 2009. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/part-1304
3. Persons required to keep records and file reports. 21 CFR 1304.03(a). Code of Federal Regulations website. Published April 24, 1971. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/part-1304/section-1304.03#p-1304.03(a)
4. Termination of registration; transfer of registration; distribution upon discontinuance of business. 21 CFR 1301.52(d). Code of Federal Regulations website. Published September 21, 1971. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/part-1301/subject-group-ECFRc6cb43f99a0592d#p-1301.52(d)
5. Maintenance of records and inventories. 21 CFR 1304.04(f)(2). Code of Federal Regulations website. Published April 24, 1971. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/part-1304#p-1304.04(f)(2)
6. General requirements for continuing records. 21 CFR 1304.21. Code of Federal Regulations website. Published April 24, 1971. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-1304.21
7. Separate registrations for separate locations. 21 CFR 1301.12. Code of Federal Regulations website. Published March 24, 1997. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/section-1301.12