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 Dr. Thomas Saddoris, II interviewed in Portland |
 Dr. Robert DuPriest, Jr speaks with KVAL TV (CBS) reporter in Eugene |
 Kathryn Serkes interviewed in Eugene |
On Wed., Oct. 9, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a national non-partisan professional association, held news conferences in Portland and Eugene, Oregon to announce their opposition of the Oregon Ballot Measure 23 that would create a statewide single-payer health care system financed by taxpayers.
AAPS spokeswoman, Kathryn Serkes told reporters that AAPS will run a paid media campaign beginning on 10/15 on the measure on radio stations across the state, and previewed the radio spots.
Reporters also interviewed two AAPS members - Robert W. DuPriest, Jr., MD, a vascular surgeon in Eugene, and Thomas J. Saddoris, II, MD, an internist and allergist in Portland. Both explained their opposition to the Ballot Measure, both making eloquent statements about their concerns for the devastating effects on the patient-physician relationship, and patient trust.
The ad campaign will focus on doctors fleeing from the state if the measure is passed, and how supporters from back east are working to pass a plan that they defeated in their own states - calling for Oregon to be their "guinea pigs."
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is a non-partisan professional association of physicians in all specialties, dedicated since 1943 to the protection of the patient-physician relationship. In 1993, AAPS successfully sued the government to stop the secret workings of the President's Health Care Task Force, and lead the fight to defeat President Clinton's national single-payer plan in 1994.
More than 180 spots will run on 13 stations in at least 10 cities, including Portland, Astoria, Bend, Medford, Klamath Falls, Pendleton, Eugene, and Baker.