Senate loads medical malpractice bill with amendments

A bill intended to limit punitive damages in medical malpractice cases ran into serious problems Monday when senators introduced 11 amendments with more expected on Tuesday.

Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, the sponsor of House Bill 99 said the raft of amendments added in the Senate Judiciary Committee threatens to sink the bill approved Saturday by the House by a vote of 66-3.

"If they are adopted, they will largely undercut the intent of the bill," Chandler said of the amendments at the close of the three-hour committee meeting. "We'll be back at square one with excessive liability verdicts."

Lawmakers have only three days to wrap up the measure before the session concludes at noon on Thursday.

The amendments, introduced in the final 40 minutes of the meeting, took aim at several key elements of the bill, including a provision that caps punitive damages at a lower rate for locally owned hospitals than for larger corporate hospitals.

Senators took no action on the bill Monday. Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, who introduced five amendments, called for the meeting to resume Tuesday morning.

Cervantes also said that the Senate received House Bill 99 over the weekend and has had little time to consider the measure. He said a special session could be a better way to consider changes to the state Medical Malpractice Act.

"I wish we weren't rushed," Cervantes said. "This is no way to legislate."

Supporters argue that HB 99 as approved by the House strikes a balance between patient protections and making New Mexico more attractive to physicians by placing limits on punitive damages.

Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, a trial attorney who specializes in medical malpractice lawsuits, introduced five amendments Monday and said she had several more planned.

Chandler's bill as approved by the House calls for a tiered scheme that varies by the size and type of medical practice. Chandler estimates that punitive damages would be capped at $1 million for independent physicians and clinics, $6 million for locally owned hospitals and $15 million for larger corporate-owned hospitals.

Cervantes argued Monday that the tiered nature of the caps on punitive damages violates the New Mexico Constitution. One of his amendments "recognizes the constitutional infirmities of that approach," he said.

Senators offered little explanation for most of the amendments and only three were listed on the Legislature's website late Monday.

New Mexico currently has no limit on punitive damages, which has resulted in sizable jury awards in recent years. A chorus of physician and hospital groups say unlimited punitive damages have attracted out-of-state malpractice attorneys to New Mexico and discourage physicians from practicing here.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has expressed strong support for the bill and has suggested she will call a special session if lawmakers fail to reform the state Medical Malpractice Act by the end of the regular session.

Sen. James Townsend, R-Artesia, urged committee members to resolve the issue before the 30-day session ends on Thursday.

"We cannot go another year," Townsend said. "In the business world we have to be competitive. If employees can't get medical care, they are not coming. This is a New Mexico issue of growth."

Chandler spoke in favor of her bill by saying that New Mexico's litigation environment is a key factor that discourages doctors from practicing here.

"Issues associated with the Medical Malpractice Act and how it spurs litigation, encourages large judgments and large settlements ... discourages doctors from coming and staying in the state," she said.

Chandler said she researched the bill by comparing New Mexico to the litigation environment in Colorado and other surrounding states.

"My goal was to understand what's going on and what I discovered is we're not competitive," she said. New Mexico also needs to consider loan repayments for physicians, housing support and other measures to bring physicians to the state.

"There are all kinds of things we could be doing but that does not excuse our unwillingness to act on medical malpractice," she said.

Tiffany Lewis, president of X-Ray Associates of New Mexico, said the shortage of radiologists in the state forced her firm to hire 20 temporary physicians in 2025 who stay for about two to four weeks.

Lisa Curtis, a trial attorney, told lawmakers that the bill would limit juries that want to send a message to large hospital corporations.

"What this bill does is take away from New Mexicans that sit on juries the ability to hold billion-dollar corporations accountable for reckless actions that cause death or serious injury to patients," Curtis said.

Duhigg said HB 99 is a "symbolic fix" that won't improve medical care in New Mexico. Punitive damages are the only way to force large hospital companies to change their behavior and offer better patient care, she said.

"I think that's a cruel thing to do to New Mexicans," Duhigg said.

Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, said HB 99 does nothing to reduce the volume of medical malpractice claims in New Mexico.

"It looks like we're saying the driver of cost is the size of the claims," Sedillo Lopez said. "But we have more claims than a lot of other states and what that tells me is we have more malpractice in this state than other states."