Caribbean Med School Sues Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK (CN) - The American University of Antigua College of Medicine claims the Arkansas State Medical Board refuses to accredit its graduates - most of whom are U.S. citizens - because the Caribbean medical school competes with med schools on the mainland.

The plaintiff claims it was "founded in 2004 by world-class American physicians and professionals in the field of medical education. The university was subsequently acquired by Manipal University, a highly respected, privately owned university chartered by the government of India."

Nonetheless, the college says, the Arkansas Medical Board put it "on their published list of 'disapproved medical schools.'"

The plaintiff claims the American Medical Association and the American Association of Medical Colleges have a history of "damaging and discriminating against AUA and other medical schools located in the Caribbean region because the student bodies of those schools are predominantly American and therefore provide the source of the greatest competition to graduates of United States medical schools."

But the Antigua school did not sue the AMA or the AAMC - just the Arkansas board and its member physicians.

AUA is represented in Federal Court by Leonard Sclafani of New York, N.Y.

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