Senate passes medical malpractice bill

SANTA FE — The Senate voted 40-2 late Tuesday in favor of a bill that would limit punitive damages in medical malpractice cases for the first time in New Mexico's history, sending it to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has voiced her support for the measure.

House Bill 99 faced a rocky road in the Senate on Tuesday after it emerged from a Senate committee earlier in the day with three amendments that had potentially complicated its passage into law.

But hours later, the full Senate voted to remove all three amendments and approved the bill after 10 p.m. without any amendments, exactly as it was approved by the House on Saturday.

In the end, the bill passed with overwhelming support, with Sen. Linda López, D-Albuquerque, and Shannon Pinto, D-Tohatchi, casting the lone "no" votes.

State Senate Republicans, in a statement Tuesday night, celebrated the bill's passage, calling it a "successful restoration of balance and common sense." 

“Today, New Mexico finally heeded our advice to put the needs of patients and our healthcare providers above the greedy desires of trial attorneys who have taken advantage of a previously broken system for their own financial benefit," according to the statement. "This legislation ensures a fairer environment for medical providers to practice in New Mexico while maintaining accountability for patients who may have experienced negligent care.”

The New Mexico Medical Society, in a statement, said HB 99 is "a vital step toward restoring stability to New Mexico’s medical liability environment, making this a state where physicians want to both move and stay."

“For years, our medical liability climate has pushed doctors out of the state and placed patient care at risk,” said Dr. Robert Underwood, President of the New Mexico Medical Society. “This bill represents real, meaningful reform and is a critical step in stabilizing our healthcare system.”

On Tuesday afternoon the Senate Judiciary Committee had voted 8-1 to advance House Bill 99 to the Senate floor, with Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, casting the lone vote against the do-pass recommendation by the committee. 

New Mexico has no assurances from insurers that passage of the bill would reduce malpractice insurance premiums for physicians, she said.

"We are lying to our health care providers and we are lying to the public," Duhigg said after the vote.

Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, the bill's lead sponsor, said after the vote that the committee's actions were "problematic" because they create uncertainty about the value of injuries in medical malpractice cases.

The amendments left intact a key feature of House Bill 99 that would limit punitive damage awards for the first time in New Mexico. 

The bill also would create a tiered system that would cap punitive damages at about $1 million for independent physicians and clinics, $6 million for locally owned hospitals and $15 million for larger corporate-owned hospitals.

The House approved House Bill 99 on Saturday by a vote of 66-3, sending the measure to the Senate for consideration.

In the amended version, "there is significant potential for windfalls and thereby jacking up the cost for everyone across the state," Chandler said.

An amendment offered by committee chair Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, and approved by a 5-4 vote, alters the way medical care is valued in malpractice cases where an insurance company provides compensation to an injured person.

Under the original version of House Bill 99, an injured person can recover the actual amount they paid but not the full amount billed. Cervantes said his amendment is intended to prevent constitutional challenges.

"The patient is entitled to recover damages they actually pay," Chandler told the committee. "We're trying to keep the cost of health care down and the cost of premiums down. We should be looking at keeping costs down."

A second amendment, also offered by Cervantes and approved by the committee, alters the definition of "occurrence," expanding the number of injuries that can be alleged in a single malpractice claim.

Cervantes, a trial lawyer who handles injury and medical malpractice cases, said the original bill would result in lengthy litigation as attorneys in malpractice cases dispute the number of injuries included in a single malpractice claim.

Chandler said the amendment "creates ambiguities" about the meaning of an occurrence.

"I think there's going to be more litigation over whether there's an occurrence or not, not less," she said.