MAHONING VALLEY Group plans town meeting on local malpractice crisis

The meeting is open to doctors, community leaders and local media.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ann Womer Benjamin, Ohio insurance director, Dr. Lois Nora, Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine's president and dean of the Institute for Community-based Medicine and Law, and Tim Maglione, legislative director of the Ohio State Medical Association, are among speakers scheduled to participate in a town meeting Wednesday to discuss solutions to the medical malpractice crisis in the Mahoning Valley.
Sponsored by the Tri-County Physicians for Patients' Rights, the event is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Ohio Room at Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University.
Who's invited
The town meeting is open to doctors practicing in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, community leaders and local media representatives.
"Since we launched the campaign in April," said Dr. Marc Saunders, president of the Mahoning County Medical Society, "we've got the public's attention that the threat to health care here is real and will continue unless we put a stop to abuse of malpractice law. As a community of physicians, the onus is now on us to strive to make a difference by talking to our patients about the policies and candidates we are supporting in the upcoming election."
The town meeting is the latest initiative in the Where Does It Hurt? campaign spearheaded by the Tri-County Physicians for Patients' Rights. The organization is made up of members of the Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana county medical societies and other interested physicians and health care providers.