Wilk V. American Medical Association - Following The Second Trial

Following The Second Trial

Both sides cross-appealed, and the district court's decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals on February 7, 1990 (Wilk v. American Medical Ass'n,895 F.2d 352, 7th Cir. 1990). In their opinion, the Appellate Court wrote "The court found the AMA failed to establish that throughout the relevant period (1966-1980) their (the AMA's) concern for scientific methods in patient care had been objectively reasonable". The AMA petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court three times, but each time the Court denied certiorari (on June 11, August 13, and November 26, 1990). The Court grants certiorari only when a case presents a novel question of law, and the Wilk case was a straightforward application of the Sherman Act.

The AMA eliminated Principle 3 in 1980 during a major revision of ethical rules (while the Wilk litigation was in progress). Its replacement stated that a physician "shall be free to choose whom to serve, with whom to associate, and the environment in which to provide medical services." Thus, the AMA now permits medical doctors to refer patients to doctors of chiropractic for such manipulative therapy if the medical doctor believes it is in the best interests of the patients. As noted by Judge Getzendanner, the AMA also took credit during the Wilk litigation for forcing chiropractors to put their own field on a sounder theoretical footing.

Following a decade of litigation, the Seventh Circuit Court upheld the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Getzendanner that the AMA had engaged in a "lengthy, systematic, successful and unlawful boycott" designed to restrict cooperation between MDs and chiropractors in order to eliminate the profession of chiropractic.