The Arkansas Medical Board voted today to allow Dr. Thomas Tvedten, the ob/gyn at Little Rock Family Practice, to resume his practice under a temporary consent order that he will not certify patients for medical marijuana. Tvedten, who has been Arkansas’s only provider of surgical abortion services, received a suspension of his medical license in August after the board found that his certification of a minor for medical marijuana was negligent and constituted malpractice. Tvedten may return to the board at its December meeting to request that he be allowed to resume certification of adults.
At today’s hearing, Tvedten and his lawyer made a pre-hearing offer that he would discontinue certifying for minors if his suspension were lifted. Tvedten told the board that he certified the minor, who has been under psychiatric care but not responding to her drugs, after an hour’s meeting with her and her mother. He issued the certification after diagnosing the daughter with PTSD, and the minor’s psychiatrists filed a complaint against him.
Board member Dr. Bryan Hyatt called the evaluation test Tvedten used “baloney,” and criticized Tvedten for what Hyatt said was “disregard of the opinions of two board-certified psychiatrists.”
When Tvedten responded that he was not saying that the psychiatrists were wrong, but that their opinions were “subjective in nature, as we all know,” Hyatt asked him, “My field of practice is invalid?”
The board unanimously rejected Tvedten’s offer to discontinue certifying minors but agreed to allow him to resume his regular practice until his next hearing. Board member Dr. David Staggs suggested Tvedten could save himself the trouble of another hearing by agreeing to discontinue his medical marijuana certifications permanently, because “it is obvious what the board wants,” but Tvedten did not offer to do that.