American Heart Association Seeks to Delay State Health Department Director's Confirmation

THE AMERICAN Heart Association of California is recommending that the State Senate delay confirming Molly J. Coye, MD, MPH, as director of California's Department of Health Services until she remedies what the association says are problems in the way the department is administering the state's antitobacco programs. Speaking before the Senate Rules Committee, Dian Kiser, a representative of the association, has accused Coye of trying to scuttle California's widely praised antitobacco media campaign. She also contends that Coye's department has interfered with the scientific process by withholding research data and punishing outspoken grantees by canceling their funding. On May 6, the rules committee voted three to zero in favor of Coye's confirmation with two abstentions, says Felice Tanenbaum, chief of staff for committee member Nicholas Petris (D, Oakland). However, a vote on her confirmation by the Senate has been delayed about 2 weeks, Tanenbaum says, to allow it time to