Eimer Stahl filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), the American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI), and six physicians against the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) on Tuesday, December 3, 2025. The lawsuit alleges that ABIM maintains a monopoly over certifications for internal medicine physicians, restricting board certification opportunities for osteopathic physicians and unfairly limiting advancement within residency and fellowship training programs.
Under ABIM’s current policy, qualified residents and fellows are prevented from taking board certification exams if their program directors are certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine (AOBIM) rather than ABIM. This exclusion is not based on the competence or training of the physicians, but solely on the certifying body of their program directors. As a result, accomplished Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs)—fully approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education—are being sidelined from leadership roles, disrupting career paths and mentorship for the next generation of doctors.
The impact of this policy has been significant, resulting in a dramatic decrease in AOBIM-certified program directors for both residency and subspecialty fellowship programs. By excluding osteopathic physicians from key leadership positions, the policy exacerbates the nation’s physician shortage and limits access to care, especially in underserved areas where DOs have long played a vital role. The lawsuit seeks to enjoin the continued enforcement of ABIM’s policy, restore fairness, and ensure that all qualified program directors, whether certified by AOBIM or ABIM, can guide residents and fellows toward the certification of their choice, preserving the integrity of graduate medical education.
Plaintiffs and the class are represented by Nate Eimer, Vanessa Jacobsen, Ben Waldin, and Mila Rusafova.
