Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would have repealed Florida’s “free kill” law.
Speaking in Fort Myers Thursday, the governor said the bill would not only open Florida to a flood of lawyers seeking big pay days, but it would also exacerbate Florida’s physician shortage.
“I think if this bill became law, I do think the cost would be borne by the physicians who would potentially flee the state to people that wouldn't have as much access to care, and then also to the cost that would go up as a result of it,” he said.
According to the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine, the state is on track to a shortage of 22,000 primary care physicians in Florida by 2030.
Florida’s “free kill” law passed through the legislature and went into effect in 1990. The law bars adult children 25 years old and older, as well as their parents, from suing medical providers in the event a family member dies due to malpractice.
This year’s bill, the Recovery of Damages for Medical Negligence Resulting in Death bill, also known as HB 6017, passed with bipartisan support in March through the state House 104 votes to 6. In May, it passed through the Senate 33 to 4.
The bill was written by Fort Pierce Republican Dana Trabulsy and sponsored by Central Florida Democrats LaVon Bracy Davis and Anna Eskamani.
Trabulsy expressed her disappointment Thursday in the veto on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, but also took issue with the governor earlier this month when he first announced he would be vetoing the bill to stop what he called “jackpot justice” and prevent children plaintiffs from “winning the lottery” in medical malpractice cases.
“Wouldn’t want to interrupt the crusade against ‘jackpot justice’ with a little thing like fairness,” Trabulsy posted on X.
Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo joined the governor Thursday in support of the veto. Ladapo said the bill would have hurt patients in the long run.
“It'll hurt the doctors, and that'll trickle down to the patient. You better believe that doctors who are concerned about whether they're going to get sued provide different types of care,” he said.
DeSantis recognized an attempt by the Senate to put a financial cap on damages that failed to pass by one vote but said he couldn’t support the bill without a restriction on those damages.
“They were responding to something that was spiraling out of control, and I don't think that what they proposed here is going to put us on the strong foot without these additional safeguards. So for that reason, I'm announcing that we will be vetoing that legislation,” he said.
