In a fiery new op-ed, Think New Mexico Executive Director Fred Nathan is taking aim at a secretive, left-wing dark money group accused of undermining desperately needed reforms to New Mexico’s collapsing health care system. The group, called “New Mexico Safety Over Profits” (NMSOP), is now the subject of a lawsuit from the New Mexico Ethics Commission for allegedly violating campaign finance laws by failing to disclose its donors while spending tens of thousands of dollars on efforts to kill medical malpractice reform.
At the center of the controversy is Senate Bill 176 — a bipartisan attempt led by Think New Mexico to modernize the state’s outdated and lopsided medical malpractice laws. These reforms aim to make New Mexico more hospitable to doctors and health care providers who are fleeing the state in alarming numbers. Between 2019 and 2024, New Mexico was the only state in the nation to lose physicians, while every other state saw increases.
Think New Mexico’s report identified the state’s uniquely hostile malpractice environment as a significant factor. Unlike other states, New Mexico has no cap on attorneys’ fees, no limit on punitive damages, and the lowest legal threshold in the nation for awarding those damages. “This statute is great for trial lawyers,” Nathan wrote, “but not so great for folks trying to find a doctor.”
According to investigative reporting from Searchlight New Mexico, NMSOP has close ties to the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, whose members have a direct financial interest in preserving the current system. Searchlight exposed a pattern of unethical tactics used by the group to deceive the public and silence reformers. Rather than disclose their funding sources as required by law, NMSOP told reporters, “We certainly will not be disclosing our donors.”
The Ethics Commission wasn’t buying it. It sued the group, stating plainly, “New Mexicans have a right to know who is funding lobbying campaigns.”
Now, in what appears to be a desperate smokescreen, NMSOP is launching political attacks on Think New Mexico — a nonpartisan think tank that has successfully championed reforms ranging from ending predatory lending to repealing the food tax. NMSOP claims Think New Mexico is doing the bidding of corporate health interests, citing two local independent foundations that provided grant funding but were originally seeded through the sale of health care companies years ago.
Nathan called the accusation misleading and hypocritical, noting that Think New Mexico is fully transparent about its donors and publishes its financials online every year. In contrast, NMSOP refuses to reveal even a single name behind its funding while spending large sums to protect the status quo.
The truth, according to Nathan, is that trial lawyers and their dark money allies are scared — and for good reason. SB 176 may have failed in committee by a razor-thin 5–4 vote, but it earned 24 bipartisan co-sponsors, and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham backed reform in both her State of the State address and post-session remarks.
“The tide is turning,” Nathan wrote. “And the desperation of those trying to stop reform only proves how necessary it is.”
With New Mexico facing a health care access crisis, the question now isn’t who’s funding the reform effort — it’s why the groups fighting it are so determined to keep their own donors hidden.
try seeing a pain doctor in ABQ. you will wait MONTHS. no matter how bad it gets here, the democrat voter will not face reality. will not change course with their voting. do these voters even have a thought process or have they just programmed themselves to vote democrat every time ? now a spokesperson for the west side democrats has posted an article complaining about the tax break she got on her social security payments. she was an educator. these people are beyond help. beyond reason. beyond reality. God Help us. Keller is getting a third term because 8 years of failure is not enough.
Couldn’t have said it any better! A completely hopeless population when it comes to thinking critically about anything.
They’re all programmed. And that programming is a parasite which is very difficult to get rid of…. Thanks for your comments.
the old saying. it is easier to fool someone than to convince someone they have been fooled.
I surrendered my medical license in NM a few years ago after 35 years of practice in under-served, rural NM. The final straw was when NM dissolved the osteopathic board and put DOs under the medical board.
bottom line of the story – democrat trial lawyers elected by the people to the round house are putting their own interests FIRST above the health care of the people. talk about morally bankrupt. where is the voter to correct this ? AWOL
I’ve been a medical malpractice defense paralegal – our firm representing doctors, clinics, hospitals – for 34 years in NM. The situation is deplorable for healthcare providers & dire for the citizenry needing care of any kind. Believe me, NM is neither attracting nor keeping the best & brightest in this hostile state. Even the worst & dullest should be hard pressed to want to come here unless they can’t get hired anywhere else.
Once again, NM last in the best & 1st in the worst….
Tort reform needed to happen years ago. I served on a board of directors for a small rural hospital in Cibola County for eight years. Our current State laws are killing the small hospitals and running doctors out of our State faster than we can recruit. The Governor and democrats in the State Legislature have not seemed concerned enough to do something about this situation.
a correction to your statement THEY ARE CONCERNED about being able to bring lawsuits against the medical industry to enrich themselves. they make no effort to hide the fact. they work proactively to protect their interests. they laugh at doctors who testify in front of them and dismiss their concerns. show me the money. thats the NM legislature.
They should take the loss. Even mini Mao nose this is a losing cause in a detriment to the citizens of New Mexico. That is completely unacceptable.