Looking Back at the Lawsuit That Transformed the Chiropractic Profession (Parts 1-9)
Landmark US Antitrust Case
SOURCE
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34544156/
REFERENCE
99
NICE
REFERENCE
123
organisation
Journal of Chiropractic Education
TITLE
Looking Back at the Lawsuit That Transformed the Chiropractic Profession (Parts 1-9)
Landmark US Antitrust Case
SOURCE
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34544156/
DISC COMMENTARY
This multi-part historical series examines the landmark US federal antitrust lawsuit Wilk v American Medical Association, in which a group of chiropractors successfully sued the AMA over a coordinated, decades-long campaign to restrict and eliminate the chiropractic profession.
What was studied?
Drawing on historical documents and interviews with key participants, the series traces the origins of the conflict between organised medicine and chiropractic, the AMA's internal Committee on Quackery, the evidence gathered for the case, and the trial itself.
What did they find?
The court found that the AMA had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy against chiropractors. The authors describe the case as having no greater course-altering force in the history of the profession, reshaping its legal standing and relationship with mainstream medicine.
Why it matters
This explains why chiropractic exists today as a legally recognised, independent healthcare profession. It provides real historical context for the tension that once existed between chiropractic and conventional medicine.
Why we included it
It illustrates how professional history shapes present-day practice, including the emphasis on evidence and collaboration that followed this period.
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What was studied?
Drawing on historical documents and interviews with key participants, the series traces the origins of the conflict between organised medicine and chiropractic, the AMA's internal Committee on Quackery, the evidence gathered for the case, and the trial itself.
What did they find?
The court found that the AMA had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy against chiropractors. The authors describe the case as having no greater course-altering force in the history of the profession, reshaping its legal standing and relationship with mainstream medicine.
Why it matters
This explains why chiropractic exists today as a legally recognised, independent healthcare profession. It provides real historical context for the tension that once existed between chiropractic and conventional medicine.
Why we included it
It illustrates how professional history shapes present-day practice, including the emphasis on evidence and collaboration that followed this period.