Speakers:

• Arthur Levin, Center for Medical Consumers, member of the original IOM committee and long-time consumer advocate for patient sa
• Dr. Richard Shannon, University of Pennsylvania Health System, recently featured on CNN, successful advocate for patient safety from within the walls of the hospital, challenging those in the medical community who say it is too difficult to stop hospital-acquired infections
• Merrill Goozner, independent author, writer and active blogger on health issues,  former director of the Integrity in Science project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest will speak about conflicts of interest and the influence of the medical industry on creating a safer and more patient oriented health care system.
• U.S. Representative Bruce Braley of Iowa, a strong advocate for eliminating medical harm to save patients’ lives and to reduce costs to the health care system.

Panels:

A media panel featuring investigative reporters: Charles Ornstein with ProPublica, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who co-authored an outstanding series on the regulation of nurses in California; Cathleen Crowley, Hearst Newspapers, lead reporter in the recent Dead By Mistake series; and Maggie Mahar, writer of Health Beat blog, author of Money-Driven Medicine and co-writer of the documentary Money Driven Medicine.

A consumer panel featuring: Lori Nerbonne, New Hampshire Patient Voices; Helen Haskell, Mothers Against Medical Error (MAME); and Patty Skolnik, Citizens for Patient Safety will discuss their personal experiences with medical errors and their efforts to effect change in their communities, states and the country.

 For more information contact Suzanne Henry: shenry@consumer.org