OPINION: Talk of the Town
Mar. 16—Journal coverage shows lawmakers ties to special interest
Hats off to the Albuquerque Journal for its investigation of Senate Bill 176 on malpractice reform. This is why you should continue to subscribe to the Journal. Without them, we may never even have known of this bill. It turns out that the committee approving the bill for voting has simply ignored it long enough that it likely will not be voted on in this session. We residents have fewer and fewer doctors available to us and I frequently ask myself why I continue to live in this state where it takes several months to get to see a doctor or have a medical procedure.
The disturbing news was reported in the March 9 front-page article titled "A malpractice bill has yet to be heard in Senate committee" and reported how little the special interest groups, such as the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, need to spend to "buy" the votes of our legislators. According to the article, it donated $10,500 to the Democratic Committee Chair and a like amount was donated by individual lawyers and law firms. Contributions were made to the other Democratic committee members as well. This is a pittance compared to the millions of dollars that lawyers receive on medical malpractice suits. The lawyers get a steady flow of profits from the New Mexico malpractice law and we get fewer and fewer primary care doctors every year (a 30% reduction from 2017 to 2021). Malpractice reform is vital to New Mexico residents' health care.
It was shocking to learn how inexpensive it is to "buy votes." This is exacerbated by our legislators receiving no income (just per diem for expenses) for their service, setting them up to be swayed by outside influencers.
Jim Larson Albuquerque
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