Rockefeller, the Flexner Report, and the American Medical Association: The Contentious Relationship Between Conventional Medicine and Homeopathy in America

This article examines the ideological and institutional forces that led to the marginalization of homeopathy in American medicine, despite its popularity among prominent figures, including John D. Rockefeller. Drawing on five previously unpublished reports written for Rockefeller by his philanthropic and business advisor, Frederick T. Gates, the article reveals how these internal communications criticized homeopathy while shaping Rockefeller philanthropic foundations' policy. Using early 20th-century archival materials, it places the foundations' decisions within the broader context of changes in American medical education and regulation. The resulting funding decisions played a critical role in medical education reform and the rise of "scientific medicine." The article also summarizes several strategies used by the American Medical Association (AMA) to marginalize homeopathy, including the "consultation clause" in its code of ethics, its collaboration in the writing of the Flexner Report, and its early advertising policies - an underexamined but significant factor in the AMA's consolidation of power and accumulation of financial resources.