American Medical Association

I

Introduction

American Medical Association (AMA), society for medical professionals in the United States. The AMA’s mission is to maintain high standards of medical education, provide scientific information to medical professionals and health-related information to the public, and develop programs to advance the practice of medicine and to serve the health needs of the public. The AMA also represents physicians and the medical profession in affairs related to government health-care policies. At the beginning of the 21st century more than one-third of all physicians in the United States belonged to the AMA.

The AMA publishes the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Printed in a dozen languages and distributed in more than 40 countries, JAMA is one of the world’s most widely read medical journals. The AMA also publishes nine specialty journals, such as the Archives of Family Medicine and the Archives of Surgery. The organization is based in Chicago, Illinois.

II

Founding and Early History

In the early 1840s most doctors learned through apprenticeships, and many did not attend medical school. Anyone could work as a doctor, with or without a medical license. In 1845 New York physician Nathan Davis introduced a resolution to the New York Medical Society calling for American physicians to establish a nationwide professional association to help regulate the practice of medicine. In May 1847 about 250 delegates from across the country gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and created the American Medical Association. The organization’s primary tasks were to raise ethical standards in the medical field, establish ways to disseminate information to members and the public, and create national standards for medical education. In 1858 the AMA created the Committee on Ethics, now called the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, to write and implement an ethics code for American medical professionals. Davis served as president of the AMA from 1864 to 1865 and became the first editor of JAMA in 1883. The AMA incorporated in 1897.

In the early decades of the 20th century, the AMA took an influential role in establishing standards for medical schools, medical boards, hospital internship programs, medical specialty training, and other areas of health care and the medical profession. In 1942 the AMA established the Liaison Committee on Medical Education to maintain standards for medical undergraduate programs and to accredit medical schools in the United States and Canada. In 1951 the AMA, along with four other associations of medical professionals, formed the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, which became the leading accreditation body for hospitals and health-care organizations in the United States. The group changed its name to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in 1987.

---

---

III

The 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s

During the 1960s membership in the AMA grew, and about 70 percent of practicing physicians belonged to the organization. In 1961 the group formed a political action committee to channel money to political campaigns. A year later the AMA launched a campaign against proposals to create a national health insurance program called Medicare for people over age 65 (Medicare and Medicaid). Many physicians feared government interference in their practices, and they argued that Medicare would waste taxpayers’ money by providing coverage to millions of people who could afford health insurance without government assistance. However, the AMA supported government-funded health insurance for the poor, such as Medicaid. The AMA did not stop the passage of the Medicare bill, which President Lyndon Johnson approved in 1965, but it did influence certain parts of the new law. Originally, Medicare was designed to cover all health-care costs for the elderly, but the approved law only covered some of the costs.

In 1972 the AMA launched what would become a long-running campaign against the use of tobacco. It released a report on the hazards of cigarette smoking and urged the government to regulate and reduce the amount of tobacco products sold to the public. During the 1970s the organization also adopted a resolution opposing sex discrimination in medical institutes and worked to recruit more female physicians. However, overall membership in the AMA began to drop. Many doctors no longer thought that the AMA was especially relevant to their practice or their patients, and some began joining organizations that focused more on their medical specialty. To recruit more people, the AMA opened membership to medical students. By 1975 only about 50 percent of the nation’s physicians belonged to the AMA.

During the 1980s the AMA adopted a resolution that opposed acts of discrimination against patients suffering from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS). It lobbied for more funding for AIDS research and objected to legislation that would affect patient-physician confidentiality. It also established an educational program to provide the public with information about AIDS. During the 1980s and early 1990s the AMA clashed with the American Bar Association (ABA), the chief professional association for attorneys in the United States, over the issue of medical malpractice suits. The AMA, citing an increase of medical malpractice lawsuits, lobbied state and federal policymakers to help regulate and limit malpractice claims and awards. The ABA argued that the AMA’s proposals would take certain legal rights away from individuals.

IV

Recent Developments

In 1993 the AMA lobbied successfully against President Bill Clinton’s health-care reform plan, which would have guaranteed health insurance for all citizens. The AMA claimed that the plan would impose unnecessary government regulations on health care and would be too expensive. Also in 1993 the AMA passed a resolution declaring that a physician’s participation in assisted suicide was “fundamentally inconsistent” with a physician’s professional role. During the early and mid-1990s, the AMA launched campaigns against domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and sexual assault. It also publicly supported the right of women to obtain an abortion. In 1997 the AMA created the Institute for Ethics to conduct research, provide guidance, and offer educational programs regarding end-of-life care, genetics, managed health care, and professionalism.

Two controversies in the 1990s brought national attention to the AMA. The first occurred in 1997, when the AMA agreed to endorse health-care products made by Sunbeam Corporation in exchange for millions of dollars. The AMA was forced to rescind the deal after many of its members left in protest of the organization’s commercial interests and ethics. Then in 1999, the AMA’s executive vice president fired the longtime editor-in-chief of JAMA, George Lundberg, over his decision to publish an article about the definition of sex during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. Many AMA members opposed the firing, and the incident sparked a debate over the leadership of the AMA and the journalistic independence of JAMA.

Also in 1999 the AMA voted to form a national labor union for physicians out of concern that government regulations and health insurers unfairly dominated the health-care industry. The AMA hoped that such a union would give physicians more power to negotiate with managed care companies and to influence federal and state health-care policies.