Restrictive Practices in Accreditation of Medical Schools: An Antitrust Analysis
![handle is hein.journals/scal51 and id is 673 raw text is: Restrictive Practices in Accreditation of
Medical Schools:
An Antitrust Analysis
In every state of the Union a person must be licensed to practice medicine.1
To obtain this license, one must graduate from an approved medical school.2
Approval in most states means accreditation of the school by the American
Medical Association (AMA).3 Generally speaking then, the AMA, through
1. Forgotson, Roemer, & Newman, Licensure of Physicians, 1967 WASH. U.L.Q. 249,
250.
2. Id. at 268; Rayack, Restrictive Practices of Organized Medicine, 13 AtrrITRuST BULL.
659, 664 (1968); Comment, The American Medical Association: Power, Purpose and Politics in
Organized Medicine, 63 YALE L.J. 938, 969 (1954) [hereinafter cited as Comment, The AMA].
There are presently 48 states that require graduation from an approved medical school as a
prerequisite to licensure. See Forgotson, Roemer, & Newman, supra note 1, at 268 (at the time
of the Forgotson article only 47 states required approval; since then another state, Texas, has
amended its code to require approval by the state board of medical examiners, TEX. REV. CIV.
STAT. ANN. art. 4501 (Vernon 1976) (as amended June 4, 1971)). Even in the two states where
approval is not a prerequisite, the state board of medical examiners has the power to determine
whether the medical education of the applicant is sufficient for state licensure purposes. IOWA
CODE ANN. § 148.3 (West Cum. Supp. 1977-78); S.C. CODE § 56-1357 (1962).
Additional requirements for licensure include citizenship, minimum age, good moral
character, and passage of an examination. Forgotson, Roemer, & Newman, supra note 1, at
264-68.
3. Forgotson, Roemer, & Newman, supra note 1, at 269; Rayack, supra note 2, at 664;
Comment, The AMA, supra note 2, at 969-70. The power of approval may be given to the AMA
or the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) by state statute, or by formal rule or
informal policy of the state medical boards. Id. at 969. There is, however, no real distinction
between the AMA and the AAMC for accreditation purposes because they have combined their
efforts in accreditation under a joint committee known as the Liaison Committee on Medical
Education (LCME). Crawford, Crowley, Egan, Hillis, Leymaster, Mason, Petersen, &
Uzemack, Undergraduate Medical Education, 231 J.A.M.A. 6 (1975) (Jan. Supp.) [hereinafter
cited as Crawford]. This committee, however, has remained under the control of the AMA.
Statement of Daniel C. Schwartz, Acting Director, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade
Commission, before the Advisory Committee on Accreditation and Institutional Eligibility, at
14-16 (May 24, 1977) [hereinafter cited as Statement of the Bureau of Competition, F.T.C.]
(copy on file with F.T.C. Bureau of Competition, Washington, D.C.); see Crawford, supra at 6.
Despite the divergence of state licensure rules, all approved schools in every state are ac-
credited by the LCME. In other words, there are no unaccredited medical schools. Egan, The
AMA, Accreditation, and the Number of Physicians, 231 J.A.M.A. 97 (1975) (editorial);](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/scal51&div=27&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Restrictive Practices in Accreditation of Medical Schools: An Antitrust Analysis
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