Justice Michael Vigil wrote the opinion
SANTA FE, N.M. (Legal Newsline) - The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the state’s $600,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits, rejecting arguments the statute violated the constitutional right to trial.
Lawyers for plaintiff Susan Siebert argued successfully in a lower court that the cap intruded on the New Mexico Constitution’s guarantee that the right to a jury trial is “inviolate” by preventing jurors from awarding her more than $600,000 in punitive damages and recovery for pain and suffering.
The jury awarded her $2.6 million in damages for injuries suffered during a surgical procedure, although the verdict didn’t specify how to allocate the roughly $1.6 million in damages that exceeded Siebert’s claimed $936,000 in medical expenses.