OPINION: New Mexico medicine needs progress over slogans

As a physician born and raised in New Mexico, I feel compelled to write a response to Brian Egolf’s recent op-ed (“Putting patients, providers first: A plan for NM health care” in the Aug. 17 Sunday Journal). For too long, doctors have been silent. Many have chosen to leave our state rather than challenge the powerful personal injury industry. That silence has come at a steep cost: fewer doctors, longer waits and a health care system pushed to the brink of collapse.

In 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while our hospitals were overwhelmed, the New Mexico Legislature — led by then-Speaker Egolf — rewrote the statute governing medical malpractice. No physicians were present when this law was drafted. It was not a balanced, collaborative effort. Instead, lawmakers enacted some of the highest malpractice caps in the country — raising them nearly tenfold on hospitals and independent practices.

The consequences have been devastating. In the years prior to 2021, the National Practitioner Database reports malpractice suits in New Mexico remained relatively flat. Since the law changed, settlements have increased by 185%. In comparison, our neighboring states Colorado, Arizona and Utah have seen no similar rise. These inflated caps have encouraged lawsuits that once might have failed in courts because hospitals and insurers feel forced to settle even unwarranted suits rather than face the possibility of a catastrophic judgment.

The surge in punitive damages is particularly problematic. In the past year alone, we have seen multiple settlements exceed $10 million dollars. These so-called “nuclear” verdicts don’t just punish individual providers — they threaten the very survival of health care systems and therefore have negative consequences for entire communities.

Contrary to what some claim, wealthy out-of-state insurance companies do not pay these settlements. They are paid by local physicians and hospitals. A single lawsuit can bankrupt both physician and hospital. New Mexico medicine has become a high-risk gamble. Doctors are left with a stark choice: retire early, practice elsewhere or risk our family’s security.

This is the reality behind New Mexico’s worsening doctor shortage. We are not losing doctors because they are burnt out or because they want better loan repayment incentives. Doctors are not asking for handouts. A recent national survey ranked these taxpayer subsidies low on the doctor wish list. What doctors in our state really want is a safe environment in which to practice medicine. In a letter to the community, two primary care physicians leaving the Gallup area cite the ”punitive nature” of New Mexico medicine as a reason for relocating their practice of 25 years.

Egoff’s profit-shaming op-ed is dangerous for New Mexico. He hopes to find a rally behind the catchy slogan “people over profits.” In the real world of health care, such rhetoric is misleading — and dangerous. Profits are not the enemy. Profits are what allow us to build hospitals, purchase advanced diagnostic equipment, recruit specialists and innovate new treatments. They ensure we can provide high-quality care close to home. Without financial stability, hospitals and clinics cannot meet the needs of our communities.

Health care is a team effort — doctors, nurses, technicians, aides, janitors and administrators working together in complex business systems. Those systems require investment, coordination and yes, sustainable profits. Ignoring that truth will only deepen our crisis.

If we truly care about patients, we must start with solutions grounded in reality. That means addressing punitive damages, rewriting the misinformed law of 2021, and making New Mexico a safe state to practice medicine. Let’s stop vilifying the very professionals and systems that make care possible. Instead, let’s hold our legislators and governor accountable and demand they build a future where every New Mexican has access to high-quality health care — right here at home.