| Objective: To review the history of the Wilk et al v. AMA (1990) case and to examine its legal and moral underpinnings. Discussion: Medical opposition to chiropractic began not long after chiropractic's inception, and reached its nadir with efforts by the American Medical Association to eliminate the profession. The suit brought by Chester Wilk and colleagues was initially won by the AMA, but was overturned on appeal and later won by the plaintiffs, who argued that organized medicine had engaged in restraint of trade as an antitrust violation. This is the argument which prevailed. Despite the many advances since that time, the profession still has other challenges it must overcome. Conclusion: Efforts to contain the chiropractic profession failed due to the very real help chiropractors provided their patients, help of which the AMA was aware at the time it engaged in its efforts to eliminate the profession. New challenges now exist related to managed care, hospital privileges and in professional relationships and public perception, but the seminal lawsuit has helped to clear the way to address those challenges as the chiropractic profession moves forward. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by subscription.
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