New Mexico man awarded $96 million under bankruptcy settlement

A New Mexico man who won a massive medical malpractice verdict last year in Albuquerque will receive at least $96.5 million under a bankruptcy settlement approved by a Nevada judge, court records show.

A Bernalillo County jury in November awarded $412 million in compensatory and punitive damages to Michael E. Sanchez, who suffered permanent harm after receiving penile injections at NuMale Medical Center in Albuquerque.

NuMale Medical, which did business in several states at the time, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in January in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada. A global settlement agreement was approved by a judge on Sept. 4.

Parties in the case agreed that Sanchez will receive an initial settlement of $96.5 million once the final order in the case is filed, court records show. That figure includes about $45 million for legal fees and expenses.

The “Sanchez Claim” will receive only a fraction of the unsecured claim amount of $410 million allowed under the settlement. But it will receive the lion’s share of the total $108.5 million settlement, court records show.

The settlement doesn’t list a specific effective date but states the payment will be made after a final order is issued. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Natalie M. Cox had not issued a final order as of Tuesday.

NuMale’s attorney, Frank Alvarez of Dallas, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

NuMale also had clinics in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Nebraska, North Carolina and Wisconsin, according to the lawsuit.

Sanchez’s attorney, Lori Bencoe, declined comment on Tuesday, noting the settlement prohibits attorneys from speaking publicly about the case.

According to the 2020 lawsuit filed in 2nd Judicial District Court in New Mexico, Sanchez was 66 when he visited the NuMale clinic in 2017 seeking treatment for fatigue and low energy. The suit accused the clinic of misdiagnosing him and treating him with “invasive erectile dysfunction shots” that caused permanent harm.

The suit accused NuMale of medical negligence, battery and negligent staffing.

A 2nd Judicial District Court jury returned a verdict Nov. 26 following a weeklong trial that required NuMale to pay $37 million in compensatory damages and $375 million in punitive damages. Judge Beatrice Brickhouse dismissed the case Oct. 6 in accordance with the bankruptcy settlement.

Following the trial, Bencoe issued a statement celebrating the verdict as the largest-ever medical malpractice verdict awarded by a jury in the United States.

“It’s a national record-setting case and it’s righteous because I don’t think there’s any place for licensed professionals to be defrauding patients for money,” Bencoe said at the time.