A Northwestern University law professor who appeared before New Mexico lawmakers to discuss the effects of medical malpractice reform kicked off his presentation Tuesday by calling himself an equal opportunity annoyer.

“Sometimes my research annoys Democrats,” Bernard Black, a professor at the Pritzker School of Law and recently disbarred attorney, told members of the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee. “Sometimes it annoys Republicans.”

In New Mexico, where medical malpractice reform is an ongoing topic of discussion amid an exodus of doctors, his annoyance proved nonpartisan.

After Black claimed New Mexico is “gradually accumulating more physicians per capita,” except in rural areas, and that damage caps on medical malpractice claims have minimal impact on the supply of doctors, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle delivered a tongue-lashing.

Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, an Albuquerque Republican, said Black’s data was “so far off the charts” it was infuriating.

(Originally published by Santa Fe New Mexican, October 7, 2025)