Medicine, Monopolies and Malice

As young Dr. Chet Wilk struggled to establish himself in his chiropractic practice, he found himself encountering unexpected obstacles from a surprising array of sources - local hospitals, medical doctors, even his parish priest. Soon he also began to notice the publication of article after article condemning and belittling his profession, the enactment of unfriendly state legislation, and bitter battles over insurance coverage for chiropractic services. At first, he blamed all these events on simple lack of knowledge about chiropractic. Then he began to suspect that something more sinister was at work, and he set about to uncover the truth. What he ultimately found shocked him: a deliberate conspiracy, led by the American Medical Association, to destroy the chiropractic profession. At first disbelieving, then outraged, he was determined that someone had to do something to stop it. Together with four other courageous individuals, he filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the AMA and fourteen other defendants, initiating a legal drama that would consume fourteen years of his life before reaching its successful conclusion. Medicine, Monopolies, and Malice is Chet Wilk's own account of this remarkable journey - the outrageous conspiracy, the intrigue, the setbacks, the courage, the unexpected allies, and most of all, the controversial trials, from the Federal Court to the United States Court of Appeals right up to the Supreme Court. It is the true story of how one man's decision to fight back finally brought an end to an illegal campaign by the medical establishment to limit our right to free choice in health care.