Texas doctors may be less likely to treat NM patients

Texas doctors may be reluctant to treat patients from New Mexico if an Albuquerque district court ruling is allowed to stand.

New Mexico Medical Society Executive Director Randy Marshall said the court ruled that New Mexico law applies to malpractice cases, despite the procedures in question taking place in Texas.

“The Texas physicians have liability insurance that covers them in Texas but not in New Mexico,” Marshall said.

“That decision was litigated to the court of appeals and now is in the New Mexico Supreme Court.”

Marshall said a court date has not been set, and it could take a year or longer for a final determination.

Until then, he said, Texas doctors may be less likely to see patients from New Mexico.

“Their concern is, ‘Where would I be if I had a bad result?’ ‘Where would my case be tried?’” Marshall said.

“And in New Mexico, you have no liability coverage. So they just don’t want to take on that type of exposure for their practice.”

Dr. Joehassin Cordero is a member of the Lubbock Medical Society.

He said most Texas doctors he’s spoken to about the situation haven’t been turning patients away, but they are taking measures to protect themselves.

“I know after some of our society meetings, a lot have been adding specific quotes to their office forms where (patients) have to sign (stating) anything that happens here is under Texas law,” Cordero said.

“Hopefully that will protect them, but that’s a small measure. I don’t know of any physician that won’t see anyone from New Mexico, which is great.”

Cordero said out-of-state patients air lifted to Lubbock hospitals for traumas and acute care would still receive treatment either way because the law protects doctors “a little better with liability.”

“We’ll take care of patients, but once they’re stable, then they (may) have to follow up or receive care in New Mexico,” Cordero said. “But anyone with trauma, (doctors) will still be addressing those (in Texas.)”

If doctors in Texas — or surrounding states — do choose to turn away patients from New Mexico, the consequences could be overwhelming for hospitals in New Mexico, particularly Albuquerque, Marshall said.

“We do not have all the specialty services in all of our communities,” Marshall said. “If you need transplants or whatever, often those are not going to be done in many of the communities that are affected. They’d have to come to Albuquerque, which is not a convenient place for those patients.”

Albuquerque isn’t equipped to handle the potential onslaught of additional patients either, Cordero said, noting that, on occasion, he will see patients from Albuquerque due to the lack of manpower or beds in Albuquerque hospitals.

“Every so often I get someone calling from Albuquerque because they’re overwhelmed and need to transfer patients to us because they don’t have beds or manpower to provide service,” Cordero said. “Also with the efficiency, a private practice (in Texas) may not want to take a risk at all, meaning all patients with New Mexico Medicaid or Medicare may not see those doctors and have to wait to be seen by us, or just decide to drive to Albuquerque.”

In hopes of overturning the district court’s decision, Marshall said the New Mexico Medical Society has teamed with other medical associations to file a brief stating their opposition, noting that many New Mexicans travel to Texas and surrounding states for care they cannot receive in New Mexico.

“The goal is to overturn the lower court decision that the case should actually be tried in Texas and not New Mexico,” Marshall said. “The procedure was provided in Texas, and Texas’ liability law should cover that physician.”