—Preceding unsigned comment added by  (talk • contribs) 

The reason why we quote the AMA in the lead is to be able to give an overview of what medical organisations as a general rule, say, and the AMA seems to be the best available source for that, even though it's not perfect.  In contrast, if we were to discuss the policy of the AMA, the reader wouldn't have any information at all about other policies.  Also, it might come across as rather US-centric.  In principle, I guess I'd be willing to go along with it, but I'd have some reluctance, and would find it difficult to defend if anyone were to challenge it in future.  Including the words "stated in 1999" seems an awful lot simpler...