Largest U.S. Veterinary School Takes Legal Action to Protect Consumers and Their Pets

Lincoln Memorial University Calls for Expanded Competition in Veterinary Education

HARROGATE, Tenn., June 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated 67% of United States households own a pet.  That's nearly 87 million people.  And along with a love for their pets, most owners share the desire for the best veterinary care possible for Snoopy, Max or Peaches. According to a new lawsuit filed by not-for-profit Lincoln Memorial University of Harrogate, TN, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) - the national trade association representing more than 100,000 veterinarians - is hindering competition when it comes to educating new veterinarians, and that hurts America's beloved pets, large farm animals and the owners who care for them.

To preserve our nation's free market system and defend access to the veterinary profession, Lincoln Memorial University, home of the Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine, has sued the AVMA to challenge its anticompetitive accreditation practices that illegally restrict the number of accredited schools of veterinary medicine, the output of veterinary students, and ultimately, the number of veterinarians in the United States.

The suit, filed June 18, 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, asserts that the AVMA is improperly using its monopoly power, through its "Council on Education," to restrict the accreditation of new and existing veterinary schools by requiring them to meet arbitrary, unreasonable, and impossible-to-meet requirements entirely unrelated to the quality of education necessary to graduate day-one-ready veterinarians.

"These insurmountable barriers to entry for new veterinary schools limit the number of available veterinary schools, which limits the number of graduates, which limits the veterinary options for pet owners in America," said Dr. Jason McConnell, President, Lincoln Memorial University. "This is the essence of an antitrust violation. One economically interested group controlling the market to the detriment of consumers."

According to the lawsuit, the AVMA has "engaged in a conspiracy to control, manipulate, and reduce new competition in the face of an existing market shortage of veterinarians, resulting in (a) reduced competition for students among the 34 existing veterinary schools, and (b) reduced output of new veterinarians into the veterinary services market." (Page 1-2 of the complaint)

Veterinarians across the United States serve family pets as well as large farm animals. Recently, the AVMA has started demanding that veterinary schools offer students research resources, facilities and faculty that they cannot afford and are unnecessary to their training as practicing veterinarians. The AVMA is fully cognizant of the fact that its research requirements simply cannot be met by innovative new schools, like Lincoln Memorial University, funded at the outset almost entirely by tuition alone. 

As a result of the AVMA's anticompetitive behavior, Lincoln Memorial University's College of Veterinary Medicine, has been placed on probationary accreditation and Lincoln Memorial's planned introduction of a second veterinary medicine campus in Orange Park, Florida, near Jacksonville, is facing impending accreditation denial.

"For more than a decade, Lincoln Memorial University's Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine has successfully trained today's students to become some of the best veterinarians in America, and we will not allow an unjust gatekeeper to block competition and hinder their success," said McConnell. "Our yearly veterinary student class is 225 students, that's the largest in America. And our students graduate with some of the best test scores in the country and are highly sought after as veterinary professionals all over the United States precisely because of the excellent education, hands-on training and skills they receive at Lincoln Memorial University. We are standing up for our students, for the future of veterinary medicine, and for the core pillars of our country's free market economy."

Lincoln Memorial University seeks no money damages from its lawsuit, only an injunction to stop the AVMA from continuing to implement its accreditation standards in an unreasonable and anticompetitive manner. 

In addition, Lincoln Memorial University requests that the Court implement a long-term solution to the problem created by the AVMA's anticompetitive behavior: the complete and total separation of the veterinary accrediting body (the AVMA Council on Education) from the economically self-interested trade association (the AVMA) in which it operates. These remedies are necessary to restore free and unrestricted competition in the markets affected by the AVMA's unlawful actions.

At a time when veterinary care costs have risen more than 60% since 2014, Americans cannot afford to have a single trade association undermine the free market, limit consumer choice, and ultimately, increase the costs of veterinary care.

If the AVMA believes in our country's free market system and desires the best for America's pet and large animal owners, the AVMA will agree to separate from the in-house accrediting council to demonstrate credibility and a commitment to upholding the highest standards in veterinary medical education for our country.

Click here to see the complete legal filing.

About Lincoln Memorial University
Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in liberal arts and professional studies. The LMU-Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine is located on LMU's main campus in Harrogate, Tennessee, with additional academic facilities in nearby Lee County, Virginia. LMU-CVM is an integral part of the University's medical programs and provides real-world, community-based education in a collaborative learning environment.

Contact: Lillian Brand
[email protected]
334-354-9771

SOURCE Lincoln Memorial University