Public Statutes, Private Codes: Organized Labor, Organized Medicine, and the Regulation of Contract Medicine in Oregon, 1906-1952
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Date
2010-06
Authors
Stevens, Donald Robert, 1984-
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Between the early 1900s and the 1952 U.S. Supreme Court case of United
States v. Oregon State Medical Society, conflicts over the legality and permissibility
of contract medicine raged in Oregon. Organized labor opposed the practice because
it restricted their choice of physician, and because they resented mandatory wage
deductions to pay for the contracts. Organized medicine resented contract medicine
for its imposition of commercial power on physicians. The groups initially attempted
to resolve the issue publicly through legislation, but procedural factors and a lack of
group cohesiveness prevented a public solution. Beginning in the 1930s, the State
Medical Society imposed its own private code of ethics on the medical services
market to eliminate contract practice, and used the legislative process to preserve its
independence to pursue a private sector solution. Ultimately, the Supreme Court allowed this approach, based partly on its view that medicine was distinct from
business.
Description
xi, 149 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Keywords
Medical care -- Oregon -- History -- 20th century