By Matthew Cox ALBANY BUREAU
Albany - Ilene Corina was only vaguely aware that New York State had a Legislature until last spring, when she began lobbying for a bill that would give the public greater access to information about a physician's background.
Now the Wantagh woman knows all about the Legislature - including the fact that some members say they support an issue only to turn around and vote against it in a little-scrutinized committee session.
That's what happened during the past three months, when three state Assembly members, including two from Long Island, who had written letters to Corina and her allies endorsing the legislation then voted against the bill in separate committees, most recently Wednesday.
"Albany has a school of double-talk," Corina said yesterday, after listening to the "no" vote explanations provided by Assembly members Joel Miller (R-Poughkeepsie), Maureen O'Connell (R-Williston Park) and John Flanagan (R-East Northport). "It's amazing - there's a whole other language that they use."
The three lawmakers wrote letters last summer to Corina and her friend, Caren Cantinella of Massapequa, saying they supported a bill that would place in a public database information about a doctor's background, including malpractice lawsuits and criminal convictions.
The women held onto the letters and dug them up after discovering the three lawmakers had voted against this year's version of the bill in Assembly committees. O'Connell and Miller voted "no" in the Health Committee in April. Flanagan voted "no" in the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday. Both committees advanced the bill anyway; Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats nearly 2 to 1 in the Assembly. A vote by the full Assembly is expected Monday.
O'Connell explained her committee vote yesterday by saying she believes the bill could be improved. Nonetheless, she said, she plans to vote "yes" when it reaches the floor. Miller, a dentist, said he voted no in committee because he is concerned consumers could be misled by the database. Still, he said, he probably will vote for the bill on the Assembly floor.
Flanagan said he voted "no" in committee because he was worried about putting "every single thing about a person's life before the public." After speaking with the bill's sponsor yesterday, however, he said those concerns were alleviated. "If there's a bill I have some concerns about, I'll occasionally vote no until I get more information," he said.
Speaking privately, some lawmakers said yesterday that members might vote one way in committee and another way on the floor because they didn't have time to study the legislation when it came before the committee. Or lawmakers might flip-flop on the assumption that no one would ever look up their committee vote. The powerful group representing doctors, the Medical Society of the State of New York, opposes the legislation.
"Only lobbyists know what goes on in committee," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which has worked with Corina on the legislation. "The odds that anyone gets held accountable for a vote in committee are very small."
Supporters of the bill say that while information to be included in the database is available to the public, the only way to obtain it would be to visit every county courthouse in the state.
The Assembly proposal, known as Lisa's Law, is named after Lisa Smart, who died in 1997 after undergoing a common surgical procedure to remove a benign growth. Her family learned afterward that one of the physicians who cared for her had been placed on probation after failing to contest state Health Department charges regarding negligent care he had provided to six obstetric patients.
Corina and Cantinella began lobbying for the bill because their
children died while under medical care.
Copyright 1999, Newsday Inc. Copyright 1999, Newsday Inc
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