Only 41 percent of medical doctors now belong to the American Medical Association (AMA).

Membership has been dropping steadily for the last decade and this has members worried. Finance chairman Randolph Smoak put it bluntly in a speech at the AMA annual meeting:

“This trend cannot continue...It diminishes...our famous clout, our strength and the unity of the entire medical profession.”

The reason many doctors are not joining the crumbling group is because they consider the AMA irrelevant or out of touch with current events.

Many critics of the medical profession feel that medical doctors have long been out of touch with the common person in the street. For years the trend in health has been going toward natural health solutions and away from drugs and surgery. Yet MDs have ignored this trend, and the AMA in fact has (unsuccessfully) fought and tried to destroy the number one natural health care system, chiropractic.

Other doctors, such as Gary Luckman, who dropped his membership 10 years ago, seems more concerned that the AMA isn’t protecting the financial interests of their members. He says the AMA “let the insurance companies take the forefront” as managed care emerged.

SOURCE: USA TODAY, date unknown.