WATERLOO -- The Iowa Board of Medical Examiners has suspended the license of Dr. Mark Louviere, the doctor arrested for meth and firearms possession earlier this month.

The board filed an emergency order Thursday immediately suspending Dr. Louviere's license. A hearing has been scheduled for May 23.

Louviere, 50, was arrested April 3 after law enforcement officials discovered nearly $1 million worth of "ice" methamphetamine in his vehicle, home on Four Season's Drive and a neighbor's house.

He is charged with two counts of conspiracy to possess more than five kilograms of meth with intent to deliver in proximity to a park while in control of a firearm, and failure to affix a drug tax stamp. He could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Louviere pleaded innocent Thursday to charges he was selling methamphetamine out of his home. He remains in jail on a $1.6 million bond.

The doctor was disciplined by the state medical board in 1995 for improperly modifying patient medical records. In that incident, he and another doctor were sued by family members of a patient who died under their care in 1991. The case was settled out of court, and Louviere was fined $4,000 by the board.

Louviere told the board he deleted information about another doctor from the patient's record because he believed it was hearsay. However, the board found that Louviere violated Iowa rules and regulations by failing to indicate the record had been modified.

The family practice doctor proved to be a generous benefactor to Allen College over the years. He established two financial scholarships for student nurses and contributed $20,000 to a capital campaign to build Barrett Forum on the college campus. Louviere's privileges at Allen Hospital were suspended April 4.

In 1996, he established the Presidential Scholarship and Obstetrics/Pediatrics awards with Dr. John Musgrave for exceptional Allen College student nurses. As recently as last year, he funded and presented the awards with two other doctors. Louviere will no longer fund the scholarships, said Allen Hospital spokesman Jim Waterbury.

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.