A. Applications for review shall be promptly transmitted by the director to the directors of the health care provider's state professional society or association and the state bar association, who shall each select three panelists within thirty days from the date of transmittal of the application.

B. If no state professional society or association exists, or if the health care provider does not belong to such a society or association, the director shall transmit the application to the health care provider's state licensing board, which shall in turn select three persons from the health care provider's profession and, where applicable, to [two] persons specializing in the same field or discipline as the health care provider.

C. In cases where there are multiple defendants, the case against each health care provider may be reviewed by a separate panel, or a single combined panel may review the claim against all parties defendant, at the discretion of the director.

D. Three panel members from the health care provider's profession and three panel members from the state bar association shall sit in review in each case.

E. In those cases where the theory of respondeat superior or some other derivative theory of recovery is employed, two of the panel members shall be chosen from the individual health care provider's profession and one panel member shall be chosen from the profession of the health care provider named a respondent employer, master or principal.

F. The director of the commission or his delegate, who shall be an attorney, shall sit on each panel and serve as chairman.

G. Any member shall disqualify himself from consideration of any case in which, by virtue of his circumstances, he feels his presence on the panel would be inappropriate, considering the purpose of the panel. The director may excuse a proposed panelist from serving.

H. Whenever a party shall make and file an affidavit that a panel member selected pursuant to this section cannot, according to the belief of the party making the affidavit, sit in review of the application with impartiality, that panel member shall proceed no further. Another panel member shall be selected by the health care provider's professional association, state licensing board or the state bar association, as the case may be. A party may not disqualify more than three proposed panel members in this manner in any single malpractice claim.

History: 1953 Comp., § 58-33-17, enacted by Laws 1976, ch. 2, § 17.

Emergency clauses. — Laws 1976, ch. 2, § 32 contained an emergency clause and was approved February 27, 1976.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Law reviews. — For article, "Medical Malpractice Legislation in New Mexico," see 7 N.M.L. Rev. 5 (1976-77).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 61 Am. Jur. 2d Physicians, Surgeons, and Other Healers §§ 374 to 376.