OPINION: Why I am retiring early from medicine

After more than 30 years as a pediatric eye surgeon in New Mexico, I’ve decided to retire early. This isn’t because I’ve lost passion for caring for children — it’s because continuing to practice here has become nearly impossible.

Pediatric eye surgery is one of medicine’s most challenging and rewarding fields. We treat children with cataracts, eye cancers, crossed eyes, lazy eyes and severe visual impairment. Many are infants or children with special needs who cannot describe what they see. Our practice is the only one in New Mexico with doctors trained to diagnose and treat complex eye and vision problems in children. We care for some of the most medically fragile and visually impaired children in the state.

New Mexico already faces a severe shortage of pediatric specialists. Families often drive hundreds of miles, even to Colorado, to get timely care. When one specialist retires or leaves, the system strains further. Unfortunately, the state’s legal climate is driving physicians out.

New Mexico is among the most litigious states in the nation. Roughly 95% of malpractice suits here include punitive damages, which are designed not to compensate patients but to punish doctors — and they are not covered by malpractice insurance. One lawsuit, even if unfounded, can financially devastate a physician.

Malpractice premiums have skyrocketed. The income I generate from surgery barely covers the insurance cost. In fact, doctors in New Mexico now pay nearly double the malpractice premiums of physicians in neighboring states. In effect, I’m working to pay for protection from lawsuits rather than caring for patients.

Last year, a modest malpractice reform bill was introduced in the Legislature to bring New Mexico in line with neighboring states that balance patient rights with fairness for doctors. It was tabled after lobbying by trial attorneys who claimed the current system is needed to curb harm done by large hospitals and corporations.

They are wrong. This system isn’t punishing “big hospitals.” It’s driving out independent doctors like me — the small, community-based physicians who provide the most personal care. When those doctors leave or retire early, patients lose.

I didn’t enter medicine to become wealthy or avoid risk. I entered to help children see — to give them a chance at a brighter, more independent future. But when the cost of doing that work becomes unsustainable, and when the constant threat of litigation overshadows the joy of patient care, it’s time to step away.

Without meaningful reform, more physicians will leave or stop offering the high-risk services children depend on. Families will increasingly be forced to travel out of state. The children of New Mexico deserve better.

New Mexicans can help make a difference by urging their state representatives and senators to support meaningful malpractice reform, as endorsed by the New Mexico Medical Society. The 2026 elections will also be crucial. New Mexicans need to elect representatives, a governor and an attorney general who are not swayed by the trial lawyers’ association but who will stand behind meaningful reform to protect access to care in our state. This issue isn’t about politics — it’s about preserving a health care system that serves every family in New Mexico.

For me, retirement is bittersweet. I take pride in the thousands of young lives I’ve helped over the past three decades. But I leave with hope that my story — and others like it — will finally prompt lawmakers and citizens to act.

Because if nothing changes, the question won’t be why I retired early — it will be who will be left to take care of New Mexico’s children when I’m gone?