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Cronin v. Sierra Medical Center6/19/2000
ails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its law." Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253 (1958); accord Tercero, 1999-NMCA-052, 18.
For the reasons stated above, we believe that Hospital established certain minimum contacts with this State by intentionally, purposefully, and persistently soliciting the business of New Mexico customers. It placed advertisements in several New Mexico telephone directories, produced television commercials that could be and were viewed by potential customers in New Mexico, and previously performed health care services for other New Mexico customers. Hospital's advertisements support the conclusion that it intentionally initiated commercial activities in New Mexico for the purpose of realizing pecuniary gain. See Hanson, 357 U.S. at 253; Tercero, 1999-NMCA-052, 16.
We believe, however, that Non-Hospital Defendants lack minimum contacts with New Mexico because they did not purposefully initiate any activities in this State. This is true even though technically they may have committed a tortious act in New Mexico. See Tarango, 94 N.M. at 728, 616 P.2d at 441 (holding that even if the defendants committed a tort in New Mexico, the trial court still lacked personal jurisdiction over them because they lacked minimum contacts with this State).
In Valley Wide Health Servs., Inc. v. Graham, 106 N.M. 71, 72-73, 738 P.2d 1316, 1317-18 (1987), the New Mexico Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a Colorado physician had subjected himself to the jurisdiction of our state courts by giving a New Mexico patient allegedly negligent medical advice in a telephone call. Answering in the negative, our Supreme Court stated that prior to the physician's telephone call, a doctor-patient relationship had already been established in Colorado. See id. at 73, 738 P.2d at 1318. The Supreme Court determined that the physician had not purposely initiated activity in this State, but instead had simply responded to his patient's call for help as the patient's treating physician. See id. at 72-73, 738 P.2d at 1317-18. It was mere happenstance that the patient lived in New Mexico.
In our view, the case at bar falls under the rubric set forth in Valley Wide Health Services, Inc.. Although Valley Wide Health Services, Inc. involved a phone call and this case involved discharge instructions including the continuation of the antibiotic therapy that allegedly hurt Patient, the Supreme Court's underlying rationale in Valley Wide Health Servs., Inc. still holds true. It is determinative that other than Hospital, Defendants acted in New Mexico only after Patient had unilaterally initiated a doctor-patient relationship in Texas. This type of action does not constitute purposeful action. As one court so aptly put it:
The case at bar does not involve a product which was deliberately or foreseeably shipped into the forum state's markets. It focuses on a service, not performed in the forum state but in a foreign state, rendered after the plaintiff voluntarily traveled to the foreign state so that he could benefit from that service which was available there only.
When one seeks out services which are personal in nature, such as those rendered by attorneys, physicians, dentists, hospitals or accountants, and travels to the locality where he knows the services will actually be rendered, he must realize that the services are not directed to impact on any particular place, but are directed to the needy person himself. While it is true that the nature of such services is that if they are negligently done, their consequences will thereafter be
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