A. At the time set for hearing, the attorney submitting the case for review shall be present and shall make a brief introduction of his case, including a resume of the facts constituting alleged professional malpractice which he is prepared to prove. The health care provider against whom the claim is brought and its attorney may be present and may make an introductory statement of its case.

B. Both parties may call witnesses to testify before the panel, which witnesses shall be sworn. Medical texts, journals, studies and other documentary evidence relied upon by either party may be offered and admitted if relevant. Written statements of fact of treating health care providers may be reviewed. The monetary damages in any case shall not be a subject of inquiry or discussion.

C. The hearing will be informal and no official transcript shall be made. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall preclude the taking of the testimony by the parties at their own expense.

D. At the conclusion of the hearing, the panel may take the case under advisement or it may request that additional facts, records, witnesses or other information be obtained and presented to it at a supplemental hearing, which shall be set for a date and time certain, not longer than thirty days from the date of the original hearing unless the attorney bringing the matter for review shall in writing consent to a longer period.

E. Any supplemental hearing shall be held in the same manner as the original hearing, and the parties concerned and their attorneys may be present.

History: 1953 Comp., § 58-33-19, enacted by Laws 1976, ch. 2, § 19.

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

Hearings conducted in atmosphere free of judicial intimidations. — Hearings are to be conducted in an atmosphere free of the intimidations that may accompany a court setting, and the give-and-take of the panel's deliberations, after it has heard the presentation of the parties, is to be as open and uninhibited as are a jury's deliberations at the end of a court trial. Salazare v. St. Vincent Hosp., 1980-NMCA-095, 96 N.M. 409, 631 P.2d 315, aff'd in part and rev'd on other grounds, 1980-NMSC-124, 95 N.M. 147, 619 P.2d 823.

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