A doctor who prescribed cannabis cookies to a four-year-old is battling to keep his registration.
Dr William Eidelman, of California, prescribed the cannabis in a bid to control the child’s temper tantrums.
He had misdiagnosed the boy as having bipolar and attention deficit disorders which led to the prescription, the BBC reports.
It was ruled by the Medical Board of California his licence be revoked due to him being “negligent in his care and treatment” – not for prescribing the drug but for not consulting a psychiatrist before doing so.
Medical cannabis usage has been legal in the state of California since 1996.
Dr Eidelman is appealing against the ruling made on January 4 and says he will continue to practice having recently won a suspension of the revocation pending a future hearing.
The boy in question’s father consulted the doctor in September 2012 due to the child’s bad behaviour at school.
Dr Eidelman recommended small quantities of cannabis which a school nurse discovered when she was asked to give the child the drug infused cookies at lunchtime.
The father of the child had ADHD and bipolar disorder himself and stated negative experiences with prescribed medication previously, ahead of turning to cannabis which he said helped to calm him,
He had also obtained the drug for his older son and said it had a “positive effect” on both children.
