The American Medical Association Foundation could lose its tax-exempt status after a formal complaint alleges the organization operates racially discriminatory scholarship programs that violate civil rights laws and Supreme Court precedent.
Medical Group Demands Federal Investigation
Do No Harm, a medical advocacy organization, filed a formal complaint with the Internal Revenue Service challenging the AMA Foundation’s tax-exempt status. The complaint targets the Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship program, which awards up to $10,000 to third-year medical students based on racial eligibility requirements. Dr. Kurt Miceli, Do No Harm’s Chief Medical Officer, stated that racially discriminatory scholarships damage public confidence in the medical system and violate established law.
The American Medical Association Foundation is not above the law.
From SFFA v. Harvard to Bob Jones University v. United States, the Supreme Court has affirmed that race-based discrimination is unconstitutional.https://t.co/WzIgUJg1my pic.twitter.com/91UvrBCxqh
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) April 9, 2026
The complaint identifies multiple scholarships with explicit racial restrictions. The Dr. Richard Allen Williams and Genita Evangelista Johnson scholarship awards $5,000 exclusively to African American students interested in cardiology. The Underrepresented in Medicine Scholarship provides $10,000 only to African American, Hispanic, or Indigenous applicants, excluding other racial groups. Another scholarship, the Patricia L. Austin Family Physicians of Tomorrow award, restricts its $10,000 prize to applicants of Eastern European descent.
Supreme Court Precedent at Stake
Do No Harm argues that Supreme Court precedent establishes that even a single unlawful policy under federal tax code section 501(c)(3) makes an entire organization ineligible for tax-exempt status. The complaint describes the AMA Foundation scholarships as textbook discrimination contrary to public policy and civil rights laws. The organization warned that the AMA Foundation could avoid investigation by opening all scholarships to applicants of every race.
What This Means
Neither the IRS nor the AMA Foundation responded to requests for comment on the allegations. The AMA Foundation serves as the philanthropic arm of the American Medical Association, one of the nation’s largest physician organizations. The complaint reflects growing scrutiny of race-based programs following recent Supreme Court decisions limiting affirmative action. If the IRS revokes the foundation’s tax-exempt status, the organization would lose significant federal tax advantages while potentially facing broader legal challenges to diversity initiatives across American medicine.