Sects

“In general, medical revitalization movements (except in the hypothetical situation of a major social transformation) must invariably adapt or accommodate themselves to what Wallace terms “special interest groups” – in this case organized allopathic medicine, health policy decision makers, corporate and government elites, and client groups – if they are to survive and prosper. In this process of adaptation some heterodox systems (e.g., homeopathy and eclecticism) became absorbed into regular medicine; some (e.g., naturopathy) suffered steady decline; and some underwent structured subordination to regular medicine as specialized auxiliary practices (e.g., pharmacy and midwifery). . . . the evolutionary path that a successful medical revitalization movement takes depends on a variety of historical and social structural conditions, both external and internal to the movement” (Baer, 179) . . . Ironically, at the same time that osteopathy was assimilating allopathic practices, biomedicine evolved into a capital-intensive, specialized endeavor that left a niche for osteopathic physicians, with their emphasis on primary care. Chiropractic, which appeared on the scene somewhat later than osteopathy, filled the need for the nonsurgical treatment of musculoskeletal disorders historically ignored by biomedicine and also by an increasing number of osteopathic physicians” (190).