OPINION: New Mexico's health care system is at a breaking point 

If you want to understand why you can’t find a primary care doctor in Albuquerque, or why the nearest OB-GYN is a three-hour drive from your rural home, look no further than the recent op-ed by trial attorney Ben Davis in the Dec. 7 Journal.

In a breathtaking display of deflection, Davis argues that New Mexico’s medical malpractice crisis is a "myth." He tells us that the legal climate has nothing to do with doctors fleeing the state. He claims that trial lawyers are the true guardians of patients, protecting them from the evils of "corporate medicine."

This isn’t just spin; it is dangerous disinformation designed to protect a lucrative industry at the expense of patient care.

The "per capita" lie

The trial lobby’s favorite talking point is that New Mexico has more doctors per capita than Texas, implying that Texas's tort reform failed. This is a cynical abuse of statistics. Texas is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. They are recruiting thousands of new physicians annually, but their population is exploding so fast the ratio stays tight.

New Mexico, conversely, has a stagnant population. Our doctor-to-patient ratio looks "stable" only because we are losing citizens as fast as we are losing doctors. This isn't stability; it's a death spiral. To use our economic stagnation as proof of a healthy medical system is intellectual dishonesty of the highest order.

Manufacturing the corporate monster

Perhaps the most galling argument is the claim that trial lawyers are fighting "hedge fund medicine." In reality, they are its primary architects.

Let’s be clear about how medical economics works: When the threat of uncapped "nuclear verdicts" drives malpractice insurance premiums to $100,000 or $200,000 a year, the first casualty is the independent doctor. The small family practice, the independent OB-GYN, the rural surgeon — they cannot survive those overheads. They have two choices: leave New Mexico, or sell their practice to the very hospital conglomerates and private equity firms Mr. Davis claims to despise.

Every time the trial lobby blocks reform, they drive another nail in the coffin of independent medicine. They are the reason your doctor is now an employee of a massive corporation.

The residency red herring

The lobby blames the doctor shortage on a 1997 federal freeze on residency slots. While the U.S. does need more slots, this doesn't explain why New Mexico bleeds talent. We spend taxpayer money training excellent residents at the University of New Mexico, only to watch them pack moving vans for Arizona, Colorado and Texas the day they finish training.

They aren't leaving because of a 1997 budget act. They are leaving because they can cross the state line, pay half as much for insurance, and practice medicine without the constant threat of a career-ending lawsuit that exceeds their coverage limits.

Profiting from pain

Finally, let’s address the moral posturing. The trial lawyers claim they are protecting the "Bill of Rights" and the "jury system." Let’s call it what it is. They are protecting a business model where they take 33% to 40% of every settlement.

There is no "patient right" more fundamental than the right to access care. A jury trial is a hollow consolation prize for a mother who loses a child because there was no neurosurgeon on call at the local hospital.

The trial lawyers are betting that they can scare New Mexicans with boogeymen stories about "corporate greed" while they quietly syphon millions out of the health care system. They are wolves in sheep's clothing, assuring the flock that the fence is unnecessary, all while the sheep slowly disappear.

New Mexico healthcare system is at a breaking point.

Aaron Snyder, M.D., the the president of the New Mexico chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.