scholarly journals Looking back at the lawsuit that transformed the chiropractic profession: Overview

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Michael J. Whitmer
Keyword(s):  
American Medical Association ◽  
Medical Association ◽  
American Medical ◽  
Chiropractic Profession ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Looking Back

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of Looking Back at the Lawsuit That Transformed the Chiropractic Profession, which is a series of 8 research papers that explore the historical events surrounding the Wilk v American Medical Association lawsuit and how these events may have had an influence on the chiropractic profession.

scholarly journals Looking back at the lawsuit that transformed the chiropractic profession: Authors' introduction

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 5-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire D. Johnson ◽  
Bart N. Green
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
American Medical Association ◽  
Medical Association ◽  
American Medical ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Chiropractic Profession ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Looking Back

This paper provides the authors' introduction to Looking Back: A Historical Review of the Lawsuit That Transformed the Chiropractic Profession, which is a series of papers that reviews events surrounding the federal antitrust lawsuit Wilk v American Medical Association. Information in this series describes the events before, during, and after the lawsuit and the relevant issues related to the transformation of American mainstream health care and chiropractic. These papers give insight into many of the factors that shaped the chiropractic profession that we know today.

scholarly journals Looking back at the lawsuit that transformed the chiropractic profession part 2: Rise of the American Medical Association

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 25-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire D. Johnson ◽  
Bart N. Green
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
American Medical Association ◽  
Medical Association ◽  
American Medical ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Chiropractic Profession ◽  
American Hospital ◽  
Practice Education

Objective This paper is the second in a series that explores the historical events surrounding the Wilk v American Medical Association (AMA) lawsuit in which the plaintiffs argued that the AMA, the American Hospital Association, and other medical specialty societies violated anti-trust law by restraining chiropractors' business practices. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of the history of how the AMA rose to dominate health care in the United States, and within this social context, how the chiropractic profession fought to survive in the first half of the 20th century. Methods This historical research study used a phenomenological approach to qualitative inquiry into the conflict between regular medicine and chiropractic and the events before, during, and after a legal dispute at the time of modernization of the chiropractic profession. Our methods included obtaining primary and secondary data sources. The final narrative recount was developed into 8 papers following a successive timeline. This paper is the second of the series that explores the growth of medicine and the chiropractic profession. Results The AMA's code of ethics established in 1847 continued to direct organized medicine's actions to exclude other health professions. During the early 1900s, the AMA established itself as “regular medicine.” They labeled other types of medicine and health care professions, such as chiropractic, as “irregulars” claiming that they were cultists and quacks. In addition to the rise in power of the AMA, a report written by Abraham Flexner helped to solidify the AMA's control over health care. Chiropractic as a profession was emerging and developing in practice, education, and science. The few resources available to chiropractors were used to defend their profession against attacks from organized medicine and to secure legislation to legalize the practice of chiropractic. After years of struggle, the last state in the US legalized chiropractic 79 years after the birth of the profession. Conclusion In the first part of the 20th century, the AMA was amassing power as chiropractic was just emerging as a profession. Events such as publication of Flexner's report and development of the medical basic science laws helped to entrench the AMA's monopoly on health care. The health care environment shaped how chiropractic grew as a profession. Chiropractic practice, education, and science were challenged by trying to develop outside of the medical establishment. These events added to the tensions between the professions that ultimately resulted in the Wilk v AMA lawsuit.

scholarly journals Looking back at the lawsuit that transformed the chiropractic profession part 7: Lawsuit and decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire D. Johnson ◽  
Bart N. Green
Keyword(s):  
American Medical Association ◽  
Medical Association ◽  
American Medical ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Medical Specialty ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Chiropractic Profession ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
American Hospital ◽  
American Hospital Association

Objective This is the seventh paper in a series that explores the historical events surrounding the Wilk v American Medical Association (AMA) lawsuit in which the plaintiffs argued that the AMA, the American Hospital Association, and other medical specialty societies violated antitrust law by restraining chiropractors' business practices. The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the lawsuit that was first filed in 1976 and concluded with the final denial of appeal in 1990. Methods This historical research study used a phenomenological approach to qualitative inquiry into the conflict between regular medicine and chiropractic and the events before, during, and after a legal dispute at the time of modernization of the chiropractic profession. Our methods included obtaining primary and secondary data sources. The final narrative recount was developed into 8 papers following a successive time line. This paper, the seventh of the series, considers the information of the 2 trials and the judge's decision. Results By the time the first trial began in 1980, the AMA had already changed its anti-chiropractic stance to allow medical doctors to associate with chiropractors if they wished. In the first trial, the chiropractors were not able to overcome the very stigma that organized medicine worked so hard to create over many decades, which resulted in the jury voting in favor of the AMA and other defendants. The plaintiffs, Drs Patricia Arthur, James Bryden, Michael Pedigo, and Chester Wilk, continued with their pursuit of justice. Their lawyer, Mr George McAndrews, fought for an appeal and was allowed a second trial. The second trial was a bench trial in which Judge Susan Getzendanner declared her final judgment that “the American Medical Association (AMA) and its members participated in a conspiracy against chiropractors in violation of the nation's antitrust laws.” After the AMA's appeal was denied by the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1990, the decision was declared permanent. The injunction that was ordered by the judge was published in the January 1, 1988, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Conclusion The efforts by Mr McAndrews and his legal team and the persistence of the plaintiffs and countless others in the chiropractic profession concluded in Judge Getzendanner's decision, which prevented the AMA from rebuilding barriers or developing another boycott. The chiropractic profession was ready to move into its next century.

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