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SENATE BILL 444
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Pat Woods
AN ACT
RELATING TO MEDICAL MALPRACTICE; AMENDING THE MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE ACT TO PROVIDE FOR A JUDGE TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT
OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES AWARDED TO A PLAINTIFF.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 41-5-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1992,
Chapter 33, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"41-5-7. MEDICAL EXPENSES AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES.--
A. Awards of past and future medical care and
related benefits shall not be subject to the limitations of
recovery imposed in Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978.
B. The health care provider shall be liable for all
medical care and related benefit payments until the total
payments made by or on behalf of it for monetary damages and
medical care and related benefits combined equals the health
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care provider's personal liability limit as provided in
Subsection I of Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978, after which the
payments shall be made by the fund.
C. Beginning January 1, 2027, any amounts due from
a judgment or settlement against a hospital or outpatient
health care facility shall not be paid from the fund if the
injury or death occurred after December 31, 2026.
D. This section shall not be construed to prevent a
patient and a health care provider from entering into a
settlement agreement whereby medical care and related benefits
shall be provided for a limited period of time only or to a
limited degree.
E. A judgment of punitive damages against a health
care provider shall be the personal liability of the health
care provider. Punitive damages shall not be paid from the
fund or from the proceeds of the health care provider's
insurance contract unless the contract expressly provides
coverage. Nothing in Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978 precludes the
award of punitive damages to a patient. Nothing in this
subsection authorizes the imposition of liability for punitive
damages where that imposition would not be otherwise authorized
by law.
F. The amount of punitive damages against a health
care provider awarded to a plaintiff shall be determined by a
judge."
.228910.1
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