An association founded in Philadelphia in 1847 to promote the science and art of medicine and the betterment of public health. Its membership includes over 300 000 US doctors from all specialties, expressing a corporate view on most aspects of health care.
The American Medical Association (AMA) is the largest association of medical doctors in the United States. The AMA's purpose is to advance the interests of physicians, to promote public health, to lobby for legislation favorable to physicians and patients, and to raise money for medical education. It also publishes the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which has the largest circulation of any weekly medical journal in the world, nine medical specialty journals, and a weekly newspaper for physicians, the American Medical News.
The AMA Physician Specialty Codes are a standard in the United States for identifying physician and practice specialties.
History
1847, Nathan Smith Davis and others established the AMA at the University of Pennsylvania. The goals of the AMA were scientific advancement, standards for medical education, launching a program of medical ethics, and improved public health. 1864-1865, Davis was president of the AMA during the American Civil War. 1873, AMA Judicial Council is founded. 1883, AMA begins publishing the Journal of the American Medical Association, which is now referred to as JAMA. 1884, the AMA supports experimentation on animals. 1898, AMA creates the Committee on Scientific Research to provide grants for medical research. 1899, AMA creates Committee on National Legislation to represent AMA's interests in US Government. 1904, AMA establishes the Council on Medical Education to raise educational requirements for physicians . 1905, AMA creates the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry to set standards for drug manufacturing and advertising. It accepts the AMA's rating of medical schools as authoritative. 1927, AMA Council on Medical Education and Hospitals publishes first list of hospitals approved for residency training. 1937, the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act is passed, which the AMA opposed. 1950, AMA started a medical student section, called the Student American Medical Association (SAMA), initially as a pipeline into organized medicine. SAMA eventually broke away from the AMA in the 1960s to become the indepedent, student-run, AMSA, the American Medical Student Association. 1960, AMA states that a blood alcohol level of 0.1% should be accepted as evidence of alcohol intoxication. 1974, AMA gives recommendations to insure adequate protection of individuals used in human medical experimentation. 1976, AMA Section on Medical Schools is created. 1982, AMA urges each state medical society to support laws to raise the legal drinking age to 21. American Medical Association, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Getzendanner found that the AMA violated § 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, by conducting an illegal boycott in restraint of trade directed at chiropractors (895 F.2d 352) 1988, AMA creates the Office of HIV/AIDS. 1999, AMA creates Physicians for Responsible Negotiations (PRN, a labor organization to represent doctors, allowing them to advocate on behalf of their patients. 2000, AMA supports Patients' Bill of Rights legislation in Congress. 11th disaster, the AMA provided the government with a list of 3,500 volunteer doctors who were ready to help. The AMA educated U.S. patients and doctors about bioterrorism and disaster preparedness through public service announcements and by posting updated information on its Web site.Charitable activities
The AMA Foundation provides approximately $1,000,000 annually in tuition assistance to financially constrained students (who now graduate medical school with an average debt load of well over $100,000 each).
Political positions
For much of the twentieth century, the AMA opposed publicly-funded health care. When the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act was passed in the U.S., the AMA protested the law soon after, both on the grounds of actual disagreement with the law and the supporters' "lies" on the subject. Anslinger (Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner) and others had claimed the AMA had vocalized support when, in fact, the opposite was true. The AMA's subsequent conviction for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The AMA's vehement campaign against Medicare in the 1950s and 1960s included the Operation Coffee Cup supported by Ronald Reagan. Since the enactment of Medicare, the AMA has stated that it "continues to oppose attempts to cut Medicare funding or shift increased costs to beneficiaries at the expense of the quality or accessibility of care" and "strongly supports subsidization of prescription drugs for Medicare patients based on means testing". The AMA also campaigns to raise Medicare payments to physicians, arguing that increases will protect seniors' access to health care.
The AMA has given high priority to supporting changes in medical malpractice law to limit damage awards, which, it contends, contribute inability of patients to find appropriate medical care.
Another top priority of the AMA is to lobby for change to the federal tax codes to allow the current health insurance system (based on employment) to be purchased by individuals.
Criticisms
Critics of the American Medical Association, including economist Milton Friedman, have asserted that the organization acts as a government-sanctioned guild and has attempted to increase physicians' wages and fees limit by influencing limitations on the supply of physicians and non-physician competition .
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