Santa Teresa spa settles controlled substance civil claims

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached a civil settlement with a Santa Teresa business owner over alleged violations of controlled substance recordkeeping requirements.

Certified family nurse practitioner Luis Carlos Cordova, the operator of Limitless Aesthetics and Healthcare, will pay $70,000, equivalent to civil penalties under the Controlled Substances Act, to resolve the alleged violations without admitting liability or wrongdoing.

The settlement does not specify what substances were involved in the purported violations, but stated that one delivery for which required documentation was missing was from Calvin Scott and Co., a manufacturer of obesity medications.

Cordova’s business is located in the unincorporated Doña Ana County community near Sunland Park and El Paso, Texas. The business, which also operates a clinic in El Paso, advertises a range of injections and treatments related to skin care, weight loss and pain management.

The government alleges Cordova failed to document the volume or amounts of federally controlled substances from 2021 to 2022 and failed to account for missing dosages. The accounting is required for tracking purposes under the Controlled Substances Act.

In 2021, the government said Cordova could not account for 240 missing dosages of unspecified controlled substances, and similarly lost track of four dosage units in 2022.

Examples stated in the settlement agreement include failures to record date of receipt for deliveries of medications controlled under the law, or bottle sizes for 269 entries on the practice’s controlled substance dispensing logs between 2020 and 2022.

“Accurate recordkeeping is the backbone of the Controlled Substances Act and the clearest way to prevent diversion,” Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison stated in a news release. “This office and our (Drug Enforcement Administration) partners will keep enforcing those requirements without exception so New Mexicans stay protected from the risks of missing or unaccounted-for controlled substances.”

Ellison jointly announced the settlement Wednesday with Omar Arellano, special agent in charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division. Cordova could not immediately be reached for comment.

“When a DEA registration is issued, practitioners are held to the highest standard,” Arellano said. “They are expected to properly handle and document the handling of controlled substances.”