DADE CITY, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced that he plans to veto a bill that would repeal the state’s so-called “Free Kill” law.
DeSantis commented on the issue following his signature on another piece of legislation in Dade City on Thursday.
The law known as the “Free Kill” law, officially termed the Florida Wrongful Death Act, was enacted in 1990. It permits underage children or a spouse to claim damages if a patient dies due to medical malpractice.
However, Subsection Eight states that adult children, those aged 25 or older, are not eligible to seek damages in such circumstances.
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In addition, parents of an adult patient who dies due to medical malpractice are also unable to pursue damages.
The original purpose of this law was to minimize the liability risks faced by medical providers in Florida, with the aim of drawing more physicians to the state and consequently reducing healthcare costs.
However, a bill (HB 6017) was filed earlier this year that aims to do away with that provision.
“I have heard heartbreaking stories from families who have lost someone due to medical negligence — stories of parents who buried their children with no accountability, of sons and daughters left with nothing but grief and unanswered questions,” said the bill’s co-sponsor, state Rep. Dana Trabulsy (R-St. Lucie). “These families deserve justice, and no one should be left powerless just because of a loophole that protects negligent providers instead of patients.”
The bill was largely supported by lawmakers and passed both houses of the state Legislature earlier this month, putting it on track to hit DeSantis’ desk for final approval.
But when DeSantis was asked about the bill by a reporter on Thursday, he claimed he had no plans to let it pass.
While DeSantis explained that he doesn’t oppose medical malpractice lawsuits as a general rule — instead expressing sympathy for families who’ve lost loved ones in these cases — he said that signing the bill into law would have huge impacts on insurance premiums.
His statement on the issue is as follows:
“It would cause malpractice insurance premiums to skyrocket. The folks we talked to universally said that.
And the thing is: you can sue, right? That’s a misnomer. You can sue. You can sue for economic damages. What they want to do is sue for non-economic damages.
What that is going to do is that is going to a flood of lawsuits against practitioners and against hospitals. Malpractice premiums are going to go up. It’s going to be harder to recruit positions into Florida. And ultimately, healthcare costs will go up.
What I suggested that was done — and there was some support of it in the Senate — is that if you had caps on the amount of damages that people could seek, that would disincentivize a lot of jackpot justice.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
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