A California doctor is fighting for his licence after he prescribed cannabis cookies to a four-year-old boy.
Dr William Eidelman, a natural medicine physician, said small doses of marijuana would help control the child’s temper tantrums.
The doctor misdiagnosed the child with bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder (ADD).
A board of state regulators labelled him “grossly negligent” for failing to consult a psychiatrist.
The boy’s father consulted Dr Eidelman in September 2012 because his son was misbehaving at school.
The doctor recommended small amounts of the drug, which was revealed when the school nurse was asked to give the boy his cannabis cookies at lunchtime.
The board did not seek to revoke the doctor’s licence because he prescribed cannabis to a child, but because he was “negligent in his care and treatment”.
Dr Eidelman has appealed against the ruling, made on 4 January, and said he will continue to practise. His lawyers said he had won a suspension of the revocation, pending a future hearing.
Medicinal cannabis usage has been legal in California since 1996, and Dr Eidelman estimates that he has recommended the drug to thousands of patients.
Source: bbc.com