John L. Stanton v. United States
Environmental SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Whether the phrase 'outside the usual course of his professional practice, other than for a legitimate medical purpose' under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) can be applied in the disjunctive and if so, whether such application improperly exercises the Commerce Clause
QUESTIONS PRESENTED The Circuits have applied vastly different interpretations of the ambiguous phrase “outside the usual course of his professional practice, other than for a legitimate medical purpose.” Ruan v. United States, 597 U.S. 450, 459 (2022); Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 248, 258 (2006); United States v. Moore, 423 U.S. 122, 135 (1975). Circuits applying this phrase in the disjunctive have convicted physicians of a “knowing or intentional” deviation from an unenumerated “standard of care.” The questions presented are: Whether the phrase to measure authorization under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) can be applied in the disjunctive. If the phrase is applied in the disjunctive, whether the prosecution of a physician for a deviation of an unenumerated “standard of care” is an improper exercise of the Commerce Clause. Whether the phrase can be applied in the disjunctive to calculate drug weight.