2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 41 - Torts › Article 5 - Medical Malpractice Act › Section 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 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.
History:
1978 Comp., § 41-5-7, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 33, § 5; 1992, ch. 33, § 6; 2021, ch. 16, § 4.
ANNOTATIONS
Repeals and reenactments.
— Laws 1991, ch. 264, § 7 repealed former 41-5-7 NMSA 1978, as amended by Laws 1991, ch. 264, § 6, and enacted a new 41-5-7 NMSA 1978, effective July 1, 1992.
Laws 1992, ch. 33, § 5 repealed former 41-5-7 NMSA 1978, as amended by Laws 1991, ch. 264, § 6, and as enacted by Laws 1991, ch. 264, § 7, and enacted a new section, effective April 1, 1992.
The 2021 amendment,
effective January 1, 2022, provided that awards of past and future medical care and related benefits as a result of an act of malpractice are not subject to the limitations of recovery imposed in Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978, and provided that 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 patient's compensation fund if the injury or death occurred after December 31, 2026; in the section heading, deleted "Future" and added "and punitive damages"; deleted former Subsections A and B, and redesignated former Subsection C as Subsection A; in Subsection A, after "Awards of", added "past and", and after "subject to the", deleted "six hundred thousand dollar ($600,000) limitation" and added "limitations of recovery"; deleted former Subsection D and redesignated former Subsection E as Subsection B; in Subsection B, after "combined equals", deleted "two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000)" and added "the health care provider's personal liability limit as provided in Subsection I of Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978", and deleted "patient's compensation" preceding "fund"; added new a Subsection C and redesignated former Subsection F as Subsection D; deleted former Subsection G, which related to court findings on the estimated value of future medical care, and redesignated former Subsection H as Subsection E; and in Subsection E, deleted "patient's compensation" preceding "fund", and after "punitive damages", deleted "on a derivative basis".
The 1992 amendment,
effective April 1, 1995, in Subsection C, substituted "six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000)" for "five hundred thousand dollar ($500,000)".
Law reviews.
— For article, "Medical Malpractice Legislation in New Mexico," see 7 N.M.L. Rev. 5 (1976-77).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. —
Validity of state statute providing for periodic payment of future damages in medical malpractice action, 41 A.L.R.4th 275.
Future disease or condition, or anxiety relating thereto, as element of recovery, 50 A.L.R.4th 13.