NM governor’s office backs medical malpractice reform bill to cap punitive damages

As New Mexico lawmakers in both major political parties propose reforms to the state’s medical malpractice laws, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office has thrown its weight behind a measure that would set a cap on punitive damages, pay for plaintiffs’ medical costs as they’re incurred and increase the standard of proof needed to award punitive damages.

House Bill 99, sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), seeks to address the state’s physician shortage by limiting the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded by juries. Lujan Grisham identified medical malpractice reform as a priority on the first day of the 30-day legislative session. Lawmakers in recent years raised the limit on how much hospitals can owe for non-medical losses like pain and suffering from $600,000 to $6 million. No cap currently exists on how much a hospital can be ordered to pay in punitive damages.

The state Legislative Finance Committee earlier this month published a report that found all but one of New Mexico’s 33 counties constitute “health professional shortage areas.” In a statewide survey of physicians, LFC analysts found two out of three were considering leaving the state and the majority of them cited medical malpractice as the reason.

The bill’s supporters say it is one of many steps — including interstate medical compacts and programs that would help health care professionals buy a house — needed to fix the state’s physician shortage.

“This isn’t the only fix, but this is a big piece of it,” New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie told reporters Thursday morning. “Doctors are retiring early. Doctors are looking to perhaps move [out of] this state. They don’t feel like they’re practicing in a supportive environment.”

HB99 has enjoyed wide bipartisan support. As of Thursday afternoon, more than two dozen co-sponsors — Republican and Democrat — had signed on as co-sponsors. In a statement to Source NM, New Mexico Hospital Association President and CEO Troy Clark said he believes it could signal “a meaningful difference to begin to address the access-to-care crisis.”

Some Republican lawmakers think any amount of punitive damages is too much, though. Senate Republicans on Wednesday introduced Senate Bill 175, which would stop the practice of awarding punitive damages all together.

“New Mexico today is a prime destination for out-of-state lawyers to prey on in-state doctors. We have allowed our state to become a playground for trial lawyers, and New Mexicans are losing their doctors because of it,” co-sponsor Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) wrote in a statement. “When a doctor faces a single uncapped punitive judgment that can bankrupt their family and their practice, they don’t stay in New Mexico — they move to friendlier states.”