Newsday (New York)

May 4, 2001 Friday NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION

On Probation, He’s Still Practicing;
Psychiatrist’s status concerns LI woman

BYLINE: By Roni Rabin; STAFF WRITER

SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A37

LENGTH: 608 words

Laura Lombardi chose a psychiatrist for her 10-year-old daughter the way most folks find a doctor these days: She called the 800 number on the back of the insurance card, jotted down some names and made an appointment with the first one who could fit her in.
Then, as a precaution, she plugged the doctor’s name into the state Health Department’s Web site.
The Suffolk County mother was horrified to learn that the psychiatrist recommended by the New York State Government Employees Benefit Plan, George Fairey of Port Jefferson, had his license suspended for three years in January after admitting he had had a sexual relationship with a patient in the early 1990s. As part of a consent agreement with the physician, state officials stayed the suspension but placed Fairey, 52, on probation for three years.
In 1993 Fairey fathered a son with the patient, whom he had treated for depression at a state-run outpatient clinic in Central Islip. The state’s professional body also accused him of smoking marijuana with her. Fairey admitted to a charge of keeping inadequate medical records for another patient, to whom he prescribed various combinations of 16 different drugs in the mid-1990s.
The terms of Fairey’s probation stipulate that he may practice only when monitored by professionals approved by the state, that he must “remain drug/alcohol free,” participate in self-help groups such as Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous and submit to random drug tests.
“The doctor is complying with all of the requirements the state has asked for,” said Alexander Bateman, a Mineola attorney representing Fairey. “He’s a quality physician. He does a lot of good and has saved a lot of patients’ lives with the work he does.”
But Lombardi said she was distressed to learn about the charges, even though her child was scheduled to see a nurse practitioner in Fairey’s office and not Fairey himself.
“I would not want my daughter in the office at all; it’s still his office,” she said. “I’m flabbergasted that they’re referring patients to him at all. And he takes patients as young as 10 years old, in the psychiatric field, where patients are so vulnerable, and he’s in such a position to take advantage of that. It galls me.”
Howard Glassroth, vice president of communications for Value Options, the Falls Church, Va.,-based behavioral health organization that manages care for the state employees’ health plan, said he was not familiar with the details of Fairey’s case.
But, he said, “As a general rule, when there’s a provider on probation or someone who has been sanctioned, when we are notified in a timely way by the authorized agency, we immediately remove that person from our provider list.”
State Health Department officials also declined to comment on Fairey’s case but indicated that the state’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct reaches consent agreements with doctors only when its attorneys are convinced they are obtaining an outcome that is as good or better than they would secure by holding hearings. That may mean they do not have witnesses willing to testify against a practitioner or fear losing their case.
It is not unusual for the Office of Professional Medical Conduct to suspend a doctor’s license and stay the suspension simultaneously, and place him on probation. The state has taken similar action against five other Long Island physicians this year alone.
To check whether a doctor has been disciplined by the state, patients can search the state health department’s Web site (www.health.state.ny.us) and select the icon for disciplined doctors.