NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A nonprofit dedicated to opposing diversity initiatives in medicine has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the requirements surrounding the racial makeup of key medical boards in Tennessee. The Virginia-based Do No Harm filed the lawsuit earlier this month, marking the second legal battle the group has launched in the Volunteer State in the past year.
In 2023, Do No Harm filed a similar federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the state's requirement that one member of the Tennessee Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners must be a racial minority. That suit was initially dismissed by a judge in August but the group has since filed an appeal to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Do No Harm is now targeting Tennessee's Board of Medical Examiners, which requires the governor to appoint at least one Black member, and Board of Chiropractic Examiners, which requires one racial minority member.
In both lawsuits, Do No Harm and their attorneys with the Pacific Legal Foundation say they have clients who were denied board appointments because they weren't a minority. “While citizens may serve on a wide array of boards and commissions, an individual’s candidacy often depends on factors outside his or her control, like age or race," the lawsuit states. "Sadly, for more than thirty-five years, Tennessee governors have been required to consider an individual’s race when making appointments to the state’s boards, commissions, and committees.
” A spokesperson for the bo.