1856: A modest group of 75 physicians from Central and Northern California gathers in Sacramento's Pioneer Hall on J Street to form the Medical Society of the State of California. Benjamin F. Keene, MD, from El Dorado County is elected the first president. Dues are $5 year.

1857: At a society session in February, a Committee on Education suggests that multiple languages are essential to delivering care. "In no country in the world is there such a national admixture of languages as in this State, and consequently, none in which the necessity is so forcibly suggested." The committee says German, French and Spanish are "almost an essential qualification of a man in medical practice" in California.

1859: E.S. Cooper, MD, the society's second president and a San Francisco physician, founds the Medical College of the Pacific in San Francisco, the commercial center of the state. The school later becomes the Stanford University Medical School.

1861: At the society's meeting in February, members vote to amend two state laws. One, abortion law is readjusted so the "subject of the abortion would be held equally guilty with the one performing the act." Two, in malpractice prosecutions, the "defendants [are granted] the same privileges as plaintiffs in procuring testimony." Both amendments are signed by the governor and become law.

1867: The founders of the Southern Pacific Railroad devise a medical plan for their employees in Sacramento, establishing what is believed to be the first employee health plan on the West Coast. A hospital dedicated in February 1870 is the first hospital devoted exclusively to railroad employees in the United States.

1870: The Medical Society of the State of California is incorporated. In other business, a law establishes the State Board of Health, with Thomas M. Logan, MD, heading it up as secretary. California's board is the second public health organization in the United States, after Massachusetts' board.

1872: Dr. Logan is elected president of the American Medical Association, not only the organization's first California president, but the first from the West. That same year, Dr. Logan introduces a resolution to admit women as members. The resolution fails.

1875: Five female physicians, led by Euthanasia Meade, MD, apply for membership to the Medical Society of the State of California. The vote to admit them is a tie, and then-president Alexander B. Nixon, MD, casts the deciding vote to allow their membership.

1876: The California Legislature passes the Medical Practice Act. The new law enables the society to appoint a Board of Examiners of seven members to oversee basic regulation of physicians and quality care. Physician licensing is soon instituted.

1883: Thomas Huntington, MD, chief surgeon at Southern Pacific Hospital (the railroad hospital) in Sacramento, establishes the West's first antiseptic operating room. He is a pioneer in multiple surgical techniques, including the use of catgut to suture wounds and surgical openings.

1885: The society sponsors and gets a collection of laws passed that call for the establishment of a state sanitarium for tuberculosis victims.

1889: Public health laws being touted for years finally pass. One requires school children to have small pox vaccinations and another requires all cities with more than 500 people to have a public health officer.

1895: At the encouragement of the society, the California Legislature becomes the second state, after New York, to authorize distribution of diphtheria antitoxin. The state legislature appropriates $6,000 to procure, manufacture and distribute the antitoxin.

1897: The society proposes that each county pay an extra $2 in dues to the state to "weld the profession more closely together, and increase the influence of the County Society." This plan meets with some opposition, but is eventually adopted and is still the principle followed today.

1900: The cost of membership to the medical society is $10 a year, and includes malpractice legal defense (an indemnity of $5,000 per case).

1907: The United States establishes some of its first "pure food" laws, mostly related to the pasteurization of milk and milk products. This early activism on regulating food as part of health policy is brought about by society leaders in San Francisco, Alameda and Los Angeles Counties.

1923: The Medical Society of the State of California changes its name to the California Medical Association. The legal defense portion of membership is maintained by the Medical Society of the State of California. The CMA recommends that all physician members use "MD" instead of "Dr." on literature, signs and other matter.

1939: The CMA House of Delegates on Dec. 18 creates California Physicians Service, a prepaid medical service plan and nonprofit corporation, which later becomes known as Blue Shield.

1957: The CMA sponsors the first law legalizing the right of an individual to donate his body or part of it for transplants.

1959: Working with the California Hospital Association, the CMA succeeds in getting passed legislation known as the "Good Samaritan Law," which protects physicians from liability if they help in emergencies.

1975: A medical malpractice crisis besets California. Insurers are bankrupted and physicians can't afford coverage. The CMA plays a crucial role in formulating the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), which sets a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages.

2000: The CMA files a class-action lawsuit against for-profit HMOs. More than 800,000 physicians and 19 state and county medical associations eventually join as plaintiffs. The RICO lawsuit alleges that the HMOs use fraud and other illegal activities to interfere in the physician-patient relationship.


FEATURE ARTICLE SIDEBAR

History of Local Organized Medicine

Los Angeles County Medical Association
Founded in 1871: The Los Angeles County Medical Association was organized Jan. 31, 1871, by Joseph P. Widney, MD, and Henry Sayre Orme, MD. John S. Griffin, MD, was elected the first president.
Fun Fact: The minutes of the Feb. 7, 1871, meeting established the overhead of the young organization: Los Angeles News, for advertising, $2; Los Angeles Star, for advertising, $5; and Brodench & Rilley, for books, stationery and stamps, $1.

Orange County Medical Association
Founded in 1889: The Orange County Medical Association was the third county medical society to be established in Southern California, after groups in Los Angeles and San Diego. The first president of OCMA, H.B. Wall, MD, was the only president in the association's history to serve three presidential terms.
Fun Fact: The OCMA was formed the same year that the incorporated cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange were separated from Los Angeles County via legislation.

Riverside County Medical Association
Founded in 1893: Several Riverside area physicians organized the Riverside County Medical Association. The first president was Carl J. Gill, MD. A committee of five doctors prepared a list of charter members. They submitted a report that recommended the adoption of the Constitution of the San Bernardino County Medical Society with proper amendments.
Fun Fact: The land comprising Riverside County was originally part of two other counties--San Bernardino County and San Diego County.

San Bernardino County Medical Society
Founded in 1878: The San Bernardino Weekly Times of July 20, 1878, stated, "Last Saturday, a number of physicians of San Bernardino County met at the office of William R. Fox, MD, in San Bernardino for the purpose of organizing a county medical society." Dr. Fox, MD, was elected the first president.
Fun Fact: SBCMS board members were often referred to as "censors" because their main task was to screen out any candidate who was a "pseudo-physician."

Ventura County Medical Association
Founded in 1890: The Ventura County Medical Association's first meeting was held in March 1890, spearheaded by Cephas Bard, MD. Dr. Bard established the first acute care hospital in Ventura County. Dr. Bard also established the Ventura County Museum of History and Art (which is still in existence) by donating the things he had been given "in trade" for medical services.
Fun Fact: From 1890-1970 each general membership dinner meeting was adjourned to the poker tables.

Imperial County Medical Society
Founded in 1916: J.C. King, MD, of Banning attempted to incorporate the Imperial County doctors into the Riverside County Medical Association with little success. Then Dr. King conceived the plan to organize the Imperial County Medical Society. L.R. Moore, MD, of Imperial was chosen president and L.C. House, MD, of El Centro was named secretary.
Fun Fact: When ICMS was formed, the organization had a membership of 15, comprising doctors from every town in the Imperial Valley.