N.M. Stat. § 61-7-5 (2026)

A. The examining committee assigned to examine a health care provider pursuant
to referral by the board as provided in Section 61-7-4 NMSA 1978 shall conduct an
examination of the health care provider for the purpose of determining the health care
provider's fitness to practice with reasonable skill or safety to patients, either on a
restricted or unrestricted basis, and shall report its findings and recommendations to the
board. The findings and recommendations shall be based on findings by the examining
committee that the health care provider examined possesses one or more of the
impairments set forth in Section 61-7-3 NMSA 1978 and such impairment does, in fact,
affect the ability of the health care provider to skillfully or safely practice. The examining
committee shall order the health care provider to appear before it for examination and
give the health care provider ten days' notice of time and place of the examination,
together with a statement of the cause for examination. Notice shall be served upon the
health care provider either personally or by registered or certified mail with return receipt
requested.

    B. If an examining committee, in its discretion, deems a mental or physical
examination of the health care provider necessary to its determination of the fitness of
the health care provider to practice, the committee shall order the health care provider
to submit to such examination. Any person licensed, registered or certified to practice in
this state shall, by so practicing or by making or filing of registration to practice in this
state, be deemed to have:

       (1)   given consent to submit to mental or physical examination when so
directed by an examining committee; and

       (2)     waived all objections to the admissibility of an examining committee's
report to the board on the grounds of privileged communication.

   C. Any health care provider ordered to an examination before an examining
committee pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A of this section may present the
results of an independent mental or physical examination to the committee.

   D. Any health care provider who submits to a diagnostic mental or physical
examination as ordered by an examining committee shall have a right to designate
another health care provider to be present at the examination and make an independent
report to the board.
    E. Failure of a health care provider to comply with an examining committee order
made pursuant to provisions of Subsection B of this section to appear before it for
examination by the committee or to submit to mental or physical examination under this
section shall be reported by the committee to the board and, unless due to
circumstances beyond the control of the health care provider, shall be grounds for the
immediate and summary suspension by the board of the health care provider's license,
registration or certification to practice in this state until the further order of the board.

History: 1953 Comp., § 67-42-5, enacted by Laws 1976, ch. 3, § 5; recompiled as 1953
Comp., § 67-8A-5; 1993, ch. 326, § 2; 1995, ch. 96, § 5.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, substituted "health care provider" for
"physician" throughout the section; deleted "medicine" following "practice" throughout
the section; inserted "registered or certified" and "registration or certification" in the
second sentence of Subsection B and near the end of Subsection E, respectively; and
made stylistic changes throughout the section.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection A, substituted
"examination" for "hearing" in two places in the third sentence and made stylistic
changes throughout; in Subsection B, deleted "annual" before "registration" in the
introductory language of the second sentence; designated the former last sentence of
Subsection B as Subsection C and rewrote the sentence; redesignated former
Subsections C and D as Subsections D and E; and substituted "examination by the
committee" for "hearing" in Subsection E.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 73 C.J.S. Public Administrative Law and
Procedure § 60.