Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday evening expressed skepticism about a House-endorsed medical malpractice overhaul and introduced 11 amendments that would change or remove key aspects of the bill.
House lawmakers have touted House Bill 99, sponsored by Reps. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) and Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena), as a compromise and the Legislature’s only chance in the final days of the session at reforming the state’s medical malpractice law.
The 22-page bill is the product of negotiations between trial lawyers, hospital associations, doctors and lawmakers, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has urged the Legislature to pass the bill this session.
Among other changes, the bill imposes caps on punitive damages providers can face in civil lawsuits, with higher caps for corporately owned hospitals than independent providers. It also raises the standard of evidence plaintiffs’ lawyers must prove for juries to award those damages, which are meant to punish egregious misconduct.
House lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the bill Saturday. But at the bill’s first hearing on the Senate side, several Democratic senators, all of them lawyers, criticized aspects of the bill as unconstitutional and said corporately owned hospitals will find ways to avoid paying even limited punitive damages.
Three Democratic lawmakers introduced 11 amendments they said would address their concerns. The committee did not vote on any of the amendments or the bill itself and have scheduled another hearing Tuesday morning.
Chandler also largely did not weigh in on the amendments when senators introduced them toward the end of the three-hour meeting Monday, saying she did not have enough time to review them.
Chandler and other sponsors said the bill will improve the climate for doctors amid a statewide shortage while also ensuring patients harmed due to malpractice can receive meaningful compensation. Opponents say capping the damages, particularly for corporately owned hospitals, removes a tool patients have to discourage bad medical practices.
Sen. Katy Duhigg (D-Albuquerque) introduced five amendments during the hearing but said she had at least seven more at the ready. One of them removes the higher standard of proof, a provision she said violates the state Constitution.
“Our evidentiary standard for punitive damages is set by case law and in court rule,” she said. “And the Legislature doesn’t get to encroach on court rules.”
In addition to Duhigg’s five amendments, Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Albuquerque) introduced one, and Senate Judiciary Chair Sen. Joe Cervantes (D-Las Cruces) introduced an additional five.
One of his would eliminate language Chandler has described as key to the bill that caps damage for larger hospital systems at two and a half times the cap for local hospitals. He said that provision is also unconstitutional and will likely be challenged in court.
Cervantes also bristled at the late date that the committee received the bill. The legislative session ends at noon on Thursday.
“I appreciate all the negotiations,” he said. “I’m disappointed they’re not fruitful. And I’ll end my part by saying, ‘This is not the way to run the government.’”
The three Republicans on the committee were united in their calls for the committee to pass the measure. They said New Mexico patients shouldn’t have to wait until another legislative session for medical malpractice reform.
“People can’t get access to doctors. We can’t wait. We’ve had 28 days to get this right,” said Sen. Crystal Brantley (R-Elephant Butte). “We will get this right by Thursday at noon. And that is our pledge.”
