On October 19, 2026, the Drug Enforcement Administration published a Decision and Order revoking the DEA registration of Muhamad Aly Rifai, M.D., a psychiatrist registered in Easton, Pennsylvania (91 FR 66156, FR Doc. 2026-21258). The order takes effect November 18, 2026.

The case centers on three 2021 prescriptions for dextroamphetamine-amphetamine, a Schedule II stimulant, issued to an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a patient. The Pennsylvania prescription drug monitoring program shows up twice in the record: once in the exam room, and once as the government’s evidence.

The PDMP check in the exam room

The officer stated that at her first visit on May 17, 2021, she watched the doctor check the state PDMP for a prior prescription of dextroamphetamine-amphetamine, and that he could not find a record of any controlled substance prescribed to her in the past five years. The order finds that, without diagnosing or specifying her condition, he prescribed 30 tablets of dextroamphetamine-amphetamine 5 mg.

According to the officer, the two later prescriptions came after phone calls with staff, not with the doctor. (The doctor’s notes describe a video visit and a telehealth visit; the Agency credited the officer’s account.) The strength rose to 10 mg on June 11 and to 15 mg on August 9, 2021; the order says the doctor did not speak to her or reevaluate her before the August increase.

The PDMP report as evidence

A DEA diversion investigator declared under penalty of perjury that he generated a report from the Pennsylvania PDMP. The order says the PDMP shows prescriptions written and filled by the doctor on May 17, June 11 and August 9, 2021. The Agency also found substantial evidence that the medical records the doctor produced were falsified, and found violations of Pennsylvania standards and of 21 CFR 1306.04(a).

This is an administrative action on a DEA registration, not a criminal case; the order does not say Dr. Rifai was charged with or convicted of any crime. Because the hearing proceedings were terminated, the order says, Dr. Rifai waived the opportunity to present evidence rebutting the Government’s case. Readers who want the full detail should read the order itself.

My take (opinion)

A PDMP check is supposed to be the start of a clinical judgment, not a box to tick. Here, the check came back with no history to support a prior stimulant prescription, and three escalating Schedule II prescriptions followed anyway. The same database later gave investigators a clean record of what was written and filled. That is my reading of the order, not a finding in it, but PDMP data cuts both ways: it informs prescribers, and it documents what they do with that information.

Source: Drug Enforcement Administration, “Muhamad Aly Rifai, M.D.; Decision and Order,” Federal Register, 91 FR 66156, October 19, 2026, FR Doc. 2026-21258.