OPINION: A new era of medicine: How one lawmaker helped save New Mexico health care 

In medicine in New Mexico there will be before Chandler and after Chandler. Like one senator pointed out, House Bill 99, the legislation that reformed medical malpractice laws in New Mexico, will not be Noah’s Ark with doctors stepping off two by two, but it does represent an enlightenment to a true and pervasive problem. We do not have access to health care because physicians do not want to practice in such a high-risk state.

The incredible work that Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, put into this bill is deserving of the entire state's gratitude and awe. The months she spent in discussion with invested parties, writing and rewriting the bill, and educating herself on the topic — something several of the other representatives and senators could have benefited from — is more than we should ever expect from an unpaid elected official. And yet she did it. She sat through hours of committee hearings and floor debates that frequently aimed to undercut her knowledge and efforts, and she held her ground and fought for all New Mexicans.

Thank you Rep. Chandler, we see you and appreciate you.

As a lifelong New Mexican and physician in this state, I was frankly appalled and offended by the way that physicians were discussed by several other elected officials. Watching these debates was really the only time I truly have considered moving out of state.

I am a fierce advocate for my patients and I know that our medical malpractice policies had created an environment in which drawing physicians to the state had become nearly impossible. The constant struggle to get my patients care, personally texting dermatologist, cardiologist, oncologist, asking them to stretch a little further, is why I came to these discussions. It was listening to Sens. Joseph Cervantes, Katy Duhigg and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez that had me looking for jobs out of state.

The absolute mental gymnastics that I watched them go through as they tried to repeatedly undercut this bill, accuse sponsors of unconstitutional proposals and claim it would change nothing, only to vote for it when they saw that they had lost, was an unfathomable political flip-flop. I am not in any of their districts but if you are and you supported this bill please know they did everything they could to stop it.

Dr. Mary Seiler is an Albuquerque physician.