Medical malpractice means a doctor's care fell below the standard you were owed. Proving it is what I do.
For more than 40 years, Tim Chelpaty has represented patients across southern New Mexico who were harmed by negligent medical care. Every potential case is reviewed by an independent medical professional, before Tim decides whether to pursue it, so you know early whether what happened to you was malpractice or simply a difficult outcome.
The difference between a bad outcome and malpractice
Most people who call this office start the same way: something went wrong, and nobody will give them a straight answer about why. The first thing worth knowing is that not every bad medical outcome is malpractice. Medicine carries real risk. Some conditions do not respond to treatment, some complications occur without anyone doing anything wrong, and a devastating result can follow care that was entirely competent.
Malpractice is narrower than that. It happens when a health care provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care, and that failure causes real harm. The standard of care is not perfection and it is not hindsight. It is what a reasonably careful provider with similar training would have done in the same circumstances, knowing what was knowable at the time. The question is never simply whether the outcome was bad. It is whether the care itself fell below that professional line.
That distinction is why these cases cannot be built on a patient's account alone, however accurate it is. It takes the complete medical record, and a medical professional willing to examine it and state where the care departed from the standard. That is the single biggest reason valid claims never go anywhere, and it is the reason the medical review here happens before Tim takes a case rather than after.
The four things a malpractice claim has to prove
- DutyA provider-patient relationship existed, so the provider owed you a professional duty of care.
- BreachThe provider fell below the accepted standard of care in how they diagnosed or treated you.
- CausationThat failure, and not the underlying illness on its own, is what actually caused the harm. This is where most claims are won or lost.
- DamagesYou suffered real, documentable harm: added medical costs, lost income, disability, or pain and suffering.
What counts as malpractice
Malpractice is not one kind of case. It covers any point in the chain of care where a provider's failure caused avoidable harm, from the operating room to the pharmacy counter. These are the claims Tim sees most often across southern New Mexico.
Surgical Errors
Wrong-site and wrong-procedure surgery, retained instruments, damage to surrounding organs and nerves, and post-operative monitoring failures that let a treatable complication become permanent.
Surgical error claims →Misdiagnosis & Delay
A condition missed, mistaken for something else, or not acted on in time. Cancer, stroke, heart attack, infection, and blood clots most often, because in each a delay of days can change the outcome permanently.
Misdiagnosis claims →Eye Injury Malpractice
Botched eye surgery, injections and laser procedures gone wrong, and vision loss from negligent treatment. A niche demanding specialized medical knowledge, which is why many firms turn these away.
Eye injury claims →Nursing Home Neglect
Untreated pressure sores, dehydration and malnutrition, medication mistakes, unexplained falls and fractures, and residents who wandered when they should have been supervised.
Nursing home claims →Hospital Negligence
Understaffing, broken handoff procedures, ignored monitoring alarms, and hospital-acquired infections. Institutional failures the hospital itself can answer for.
Emergency Room Errors
Patients discharged with a condition never worked up, cardiac or neurological symptoms attributed to something benign, ordered tests never followed up.
Medication & Pharmacy Errors
The wrong drug, the wrong dose, or one that should never have been combined with what the patient was already taking. Prescribing, dispensing, and administering each involve a different responsible party.
Anesthesia Errors
Dosing mistakes, histories and allergies not reviewed, unrecognized airway problems, and inadequate monitoring. Anesthesia leaves very little margin.
Birth Injuries
Fetal distress not monitored, delayed emergency cesarean, improper forceps or vacuum use, and untreated maternal conditions such as preeclampsia.
Brain & Spinal Cord Injuries
Oxygen deprivation, undiagnosed bleeds, surgical damage to the cord, and delayed treatment of stroke or spinal compression. Lifetime care costs matter as much as the injury.
You will never be handed off to a junior associate or a call center. When you call this office, you get Tim. He is the same attorney who will see your case through to the end.
How a claim gets built
We gather every record
Hospital charts, physician notes, nursing logs, imaging, and billing records, so nothing is missing when the medicine is reviewed.
A physician reviews the medicine
An independent medical professional examines the records to identify where care may have fallen below the accepted standard.
We prove duty, breach, and damages
New Mexico law requires showing a provider owed a duty, breached it, and that the breach caused real harm.
We prepare like it's going to trial
Insurance companies and defense firms respond to preparation, so Tim builds every case as though a jury will hear it.
Malpractice claims run on their own rules
A medical malpractice claim in New Mexico is not an ordinary injury case with a doctor in it. It has its own statute, its own deadlines, its own limits on damages, and a state-run fund that can pay part of a recovery. None of that machinery is visible to the person who was harmed, and all of it can quietly determine what a claim is worth, or whether it survives at all.
The Medical Malpractice Act
New Mexico's Medical Malpractice Act applies a separate set of rules to claims against providers who are “qualified” under it. Whether a particular physician, clinic, or hospital qualifies affects how the claim proceeds and what recovery is available, and it is not something a patient can determine from the outside. It is among the first things Tim checks.
The Patient Compensation Fund
The Patient Compensation Fund is administered by the state and can pay damages above a qualified provider's own coverage. Where it applies, it changes both the practical value of a claim and the procedure for recovering. Availability turns on the provider, the dates involved, and the version of the law governing the case.
Deadlines that start earlier than people expect
This is how valid claims are most often lost. In many New Mexico malpractice cases the deadline runs from the date of the negligence itself rather than the date the patient discovered it, and claims involving a government-run facility carry separate and shorter notice requirements. Waiting to see whether things improve is the most common way a real claim quietly expires.
Statutory limits on damages
New Mexico caps certain categories of malpractice damages, and those limits have changed more than once in recent years. Which version applies depends on when the negligence occurred and what kind of provider was involved, so the figure that governs one case may be irrelevant to another.
Because these rules change and interact, the honest answer to “what is my case worth?” is that it depends on facts a review will surface, not on a number from a website. Rather than quote a figure that may not apply to you, Tim will walk you through what actually governs your claim. Our resource on New Mexico's damages caps covers the background.
By the numbers
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Amounts reflect prior matters; every case depends on its own facts, liability, injuries, insurance, and the law.
Settlements and verdicts won across medical malpractice and personal injury claims.
More than 40 years representing injured clients across southern New Mexico.
Rated by clients for communication, results, and support throughout their case.
“They never missed a beat. The communication was excellent and timely, way above what we expected. I would recommend anyone in need of legal services call Tim Chelpaty.”Chris S. · Las Cruces, NM · via Lawyers.com
Do I actually have a malpractice case?
A bad outcome is not always malpractice, and telling the difference is most of the job. If something about your care does not sit right, our plain-English guide walks through the warning signs and when it is worth having your records reviewed.
Answers about medical malpractice claims
Medical malpractice claims in New Mexico have their own rules and deadlines. These are the questions clients ask most before their first free case review.
Visit the Resource Center →Deadlines in New Mexico medical malpractice cases can be strict and fact-specific. In many cases the clock starts running at the time of the act of malpractice rather than when the patient discovers it, and certain claims have shortened windows. Claims involving a government-run facility carry separate notice requirements. Because exceptions exist and missing a deadline can end a valid claim, it is best to speak with Tim as early as possible.
Not necessarily. Medicine involves risk, and not every difficult outcome is the result of negligence. Malpractice generally requires showing that a provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care and that the failure caused harm. That is exactly why the medical records are reviewed by an independent medical professional before a claim is pursued.
In practice, yes. Proving that care fell below the standard requires medical expertise, not just your account of what happened, however accurate it is. That is why an independent medical professional reviews the records before Tim decides whether to pursue a claim. You do not need to arrange that yourself, and it costs you nothing.
The Patient Compensation Fund is a state-administered fund that can pay damages above a qualified health care provider's base coverage in malpractice cases. How and when it applies depends on the provider, the date of the events, and the version of the law that governs the claim, all of which Tim can walk you through.
New Mexico law places limits on certain categories of damages in medical malpractice cases, and those limits have changed in recent years under the 2021 reforms to the Medical Malpractice Act. What applies to your case depends on the type of provider, the date of the incident, and other case-specific facts, so exact figures are best discussed directly with Tim.
That is a wrongful death claim, and New Mexico treats it differently from an injury claim brought by a living patient: who may bring it, and what damages are recoverable, follow their own rules. Tim has handled fatal-outcome malpractice cases, including delayed recognition of life-threatening conditions. If you are in this situation, the deadlines matter more than usual, not less.
Longer than most people expect. Gathering complete records, obtaining an independent medical professional's review, filing, discovery, and depositions take months, and a contested case can run well beyond a year. Tim will give you a realistic picture for your specific situation rather than an optimistic one, and you will hear from him directly as it progresses.
Tim handles medical malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis. That means you pay no attorney fee up front; the fee comes from the recovery, and only if there is one. The initial case review is free and confidential.
Representation across southern New Mexico
Tim represents patients throughout the region, not just Las Cruces. If you were harmed by medical negligence anywhere in southern New Mexico, you have access to the same personal representation.
Think a doctor's mistake harmed you or someone you love?
Tim offers a free, confidential case review. No obligation, no cost. Just honest answers from an attorney with more than forty years of experience who will personally look at your situation.