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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Did New Mexico's Governor authorize health care rationing to treat only those patients most likely to survive COVID-19?

Saturday, December 12, 2020

By Laura Brickman

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Two recent emergency orders issued by the New Mexico Department of Health do not authorize a type of health care rationing that would prevent critically ill COVID-19 patients from receiving treatment.

One of the orders does prohibit hospitals from administering non-essential surgeries between Dec. 11, 2020 and Jan. 4, 2021. However, the order defines non-essential surgeries as "services which can be delayed for three months without undue risk to the patient's health" and states that the prohibition does not apply to treating patients with "emergency or urgent medical needs" or to "any surgery that if not performed would result in a serious condition of a patient worsening."

The other order allows more medical professionals to be credentialed to administer COVID-19 care in light of the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

NM Health Department: Public health orders temporarily limiting non-essential surgeries, recognizing activation of crisis care

NM Health Department: Temporary restrictions on non-essential surgical procedures

NM Health Department: Activation of crisis care standards and establishing credentialing and approval of COVID-19 credentialed physicians and COVID-19 credentialed advance practice clinicians

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.