No claim for malpractice may be brought against a health care provider unless filed within three years after the date that the act of malpractice occurred, except that the times limited for the bringing of actions by minors and incapacitated persons shall be extended so that they shall have one year from and after the age of majority or termination of incapacity within which to commence the actions.
§ 41-5-13 NMSA 1978
Limitations
Known as the Medical Malpractice Act
The act spans §§ 41–41 (33 sections).
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Lurch v. United States (1983)
Most recently applied in 523 F. Supp. 2d 435 - Santos Ex Rel. Beato v. United States (November 2007)
1953 Comp., § 58-33-13, enacted by Laws 1976, ch. 2, § 13; 2021, ch. 16, § 6.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: NMOneSource (New Mexico Compilation Commission). Reproduced from public-domain New Mexico statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.