SB 175

                                1  SENATE BILL 175
                                2      57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Craig W. Brandt and Nicole Tobiassen and Rex Wilson
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                                10  AN ACT
                                11   RELATING TO JUDGMENTS; PROHIBITING PUNITIVE DAMAGE AWARDS IN
                                12   MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES.
                                13
                                14   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
                                15        SECTION 1.    Section 41-5-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1992,
                                16   Chapter 33, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
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                                17        "41-5-7.    MEDICAL EXPENSES [AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES].--
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                                18  A.   Awards of past and future medical care and
                                19   related benefits shall not be subject to the limitations of
                                20   recovery imposed in Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978.
                                21  B.   The health care provider shall be liable for all
                                22   medical care and related benefit payments until the total
                                23   payments made by or on behalf of it for monetary damages and
                                24   medical care and related benefits combined equals the health
                                25   care provider's personal liability limit as provided in
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                                1    Subsection I of Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978, after which the
                                2    payments shall be made by the fund.
                                3  C.    Beginning January 1, 2027, any amounts due from
                                4    a judgment or settlement against a hospital or an outpatient
                                5    health care facility shall not be paid from the fund if the
                                6    injury or death occurred after December 31, 2026.
                                7  D.    This section shall not be construed to prevent a
                                8    patient and a health care provider from entering into a
                                9    settlement agreement whereby medical care and related benefits
                                10   shall be provided for a limited period of time only or to a
                                11   limited degree.
                                12  [E.   A judgment of punitive damages against a health
                                13   care provider shall be the personal liability of the health
                                14   care provider.     Punitive damages shall not be paid from the
                                15   fund or from the proceeds of the health care provider's
                                16   insurance contract unless the contract expressly provides
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                                17   coverage.   Nothing in Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978 precludes the
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                                18   award of punitive damages to a patient.     Nothing in this
                                19   subsection authorizes the imposition of liability for punitive
                                20   damages where that imposition would not be otherwise authorized
                                21   by law.]"
                                22        SECTION 2.     A new section of the Medical Malpractice Act
                                23   is enacted to read:
                                24        "[NEW MATERIAL] PUNITIVE DAMAGES PROHIBITED.--Punitive
                                25   damages or any other exemplary damages shall not be awarded in
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                                                                     - 2 -
                                1    a malpractice claim."
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                                     .232702.1