Each state has its own set of statutes and regulations on licensing doctors, accommodating patients who wish to file complaints, and releasing information about physicians who have been subject to discipline and legal action. On this page, we’re sharing the key findings regarding Arkansas, which we will continue to update as the series progresses.
Key fact: The medical board’s report of 2015 statistics shows that it received three complaints of doctors having sexual or romantic relationships with patients. It reported four such complaints in 2014 and four in 2013. No information is provided on the outcome of board investigations of those allegations.
“The thing I’m having the most trouble with is how seven women from different walks of life have come together and made these allegations against you.”
— Arkansas State Medical Board member Dr. Jim Citty, as quoted in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in the case of a doctor accused of fondling numerous patients.
Dr. Clarence J. Arendall
Arendall was sentenced in March 2009 to five years in prison on two felony counts of sexual assault of patients. The Arkansas State Medical Board found that he’d had sexual contact with nine patients, including one woman who said she’d had psychiatric problems since she was a child.
At Arendall's trial, 10 women testified that he had molested them during exams, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
Arendall's license was revoked in April 2009. He died in February 2014.
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