Changes

In 1899, the Ohio Supreme Court in State v. Liffring supported the earlier lower court decision in the Eastman case and confirmed that Osteopathy did not constitute the practice of medicine in Ohio. A grand jury indicted William Liffring for practicing with a license, but went to the circuit court and quashed the indictment. The state sought to overturn the lower court’s decision and prosecute Liffring for violating the state’s licensing law. Prosecutors argued that medicine had “a wider significance than has the word drug.” They also cited “The Ohio Osteopath,” which was published by the faculty of the Ohio Institute of Osteopathy. This publication identified fifty diseases that could be treated successfully by Osteopathy. The court disagreed and found that the practice of medicine required the use of “drug or medicine.”<ref> State v. Liffring, 61 Ohio St. 39; 55 N.E. 168 (1899), 39-51.</ref>

In Nelson v. State Board of Health, an Osteopath named Harry Nelson filed a petition of equity to enjoin the Kentucky State Board of Health from harassing him. Nelson was concerned that the board was going to prosecute him for violating the state’s practice and he sought to short-circuit their efforts. They refused to enjoin the board from enforcing the law against Nelson. After the lower Law and Equity Division entered a judgment in favor of the board, Nelson asked the Kentucky court of appeals to reverse the decision and force the board to recognize his college, the American College of Osteopathy in Kirksville, as legitimate under the state’s medical practice act.<ref> Nelson v. State Board of Health, 108 Ky. 769, (1900), 770-774.</ref>

====Osteopaths lobby legislatures for protection from prosecution====

Since the courts were deadlocked over the issue of Osteopathy, Osteopaths quickly realized that the only way to ensure the survival of their medical specialty was to lobby for their own licensing laws. While a majority of courts exempted Osteopaths from licensing laws, Osteopaths wanted their practice to not only be legal throughout the country but legitimate. Like Regulars and Irregulars, Osteopaths quickly organized themselves in medical societies and created research journals. Aside from giving Osteopaths a sheen of respectability, the infrastructure gave Osteopaths a way to wage a concerted campaign to secure licensing. Between 1897 and 1901, fifteen states passed separate licensing laws for Osteopaths. Unsurprisingly, most of these states were in the Midwest, but New York, California, and Connecticut also passed laws favoring Osteopaths.<ref> Gevitz, 47.</ref>

By 1923, Osteopaths secured licensing in forty-six states and about half of those states created separate osteopathic boards. Osteopaths established a secure foothold in America and have never relinquished it. Contrarily, after the major sects established unified boards and the AMA admitted Irregulars to its ranks, Eclecticism and Homeopathy began their slow decline. Osteopaths successfully transformed themselves from a small Midwestern medical sect into physicians in the eyes of both the public and the law.

====References====

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