TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a invoice that will have allowed extra households to file medical malpractice wrongful loss of life lawsuits. Households shut out by the present regulation proceed to share their tales, hoping for an opportunity at justice, and that push to revive the ‘free kill’ invoice is gaining momentum contained in the statehouse.
Underneath present regulation, if a affected person dies from medical malpractice, their surviving relations can solely sue if the affected person was married or the affected person had a minor youngster below the age of 25. Those that don’t match that description can not sue for wrongful loss of life, even when the physician was clearly negligent.
“The objective of the invoice was to carry physicians accountable once they dedicated malpractice, ultimately resulting in the loss of life of an individual, of a affected person,” stated Home Speaker Danny Perez, (R-Miami). “There needs to be no distinction in the way you maintain an individual accountable for his or her negligence between an individual like myself, who’s married with youngsters, and one other one who isn’t married and would not have youngsters.”
This yr within the Florida home, a invoice seeking to present extra equity for households handed out of each chambers and was despatched to the Governor’s desk.
Nevertheless, DeSantis vetoed it.
“It will result in greater prices for Floridians, it’s going to result in much less entry to look after Floridians, and it could make it more durable for us to maintain, recruit and preserve physicians within the state of Florida,” stated DeSantis.
“After all, the Governor has in his proper the ability to veto this invoice, and he selected to take action. I disagree with the veto, and we will probably be bringing that invoice again subsequent yr for a continued dialog,” stated Speaker Perez.
For now, this legislative battle is paused till lawmakers return to Tallahassee subsequent yr when the 2026 session begins.
