TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Floridians suing over medical malpractice could soon see caps on how much money their pain and suffering is worth.
A bill to add those limits cleared its first hurdle in the state legislature on Monday.
The bill was introduced to target what critics call Florida’s “free kill” law, which limits who can sue over their loved one’s death from suspected medical malpractice.
“I’m not sure that trading one injustice and limiting another is the right way to go,” State Sen. Lauren Book, a Democrat representing District 30 in Broward County, said. “I have a hard time putting a dollar amount on the pain and suffering felt by some of these families.”
If you are 25 or older, unmarried or widowed, and have no children under the age of 25, subsection eight of Florida’s Wrongful Death Act says your loved ones can’t sue the doctor or healthcare facility for mental pain and suffering damages.
Supporters of the law say it helps keep medical malpractice insurance rates down in Florida, which helps keep doctors from leaving the state.
“Because we have not seen enough support in the legislature to just do a clean repeal, I believe we had to look at another avenue to try to thread the needle and strike the balance,” State Sen. Clay Yarborough, a Republican representing District 4 in Jacksonville, said.
When Sen. Yarborough originally filed Senate Bill 248, it would have allowed the people currently blocked by subsection 8 from recovering damages to do so, but only if the Agency for Health Care Administration or Florida Department of Health found there was probable cause of negligence first.
It’s now evolved into something much bigger — something that would affect anyone who sues over medical malpractice-related deaths or injuries.
Sen. Yarborough totally scrapped the original plan and replaced it with something new: Florida’s so-called “free kill” law would be fully repealed. Anyone would be able to sue over their loved one’s suspected medical malpractice death. But it would add caps on pain and suffering damages for anyone who sues over wrongful deaths or injuries caused by medical malpractice.
“If we are going to expand the universe of claimants in the state of Florida, there must be some countermeasure, some counterbalance that is going to provide fairness and balance in the civil justice system,” Ybor City attorney Andy Bolin told the State Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.
If the bill becomes law, Florida patients and their families would be limited to recovering a maximum of $500,000 in pain and suffering damages from a medical practitioner.
That gets bumped up to a max of $750,000 from medical facilities like hospitals.
Michael Beacham told the Senate Judiciary Committee that’s not enough for his daughter Maddie. He said the 1-year-old is slowly losing her left hand because of medical negligence.
“She won’t play basketball like her mother, or trumpet like me, or piano like her brother. She won’t, when she gets married, have a finger for her loved one to put a ring on,” Beacham said. “A $500,000 cap is about a latte a day for her life.”
This bill would not add caps on economic damages like medical expenses, funeral expenses and lost wages.
The Judiciary Committee approved the bill Monday. It would have to pass two more committees before the full Senate could vote on it.
It’s one of five bills that have been introduced this session to address Florida’s limits on who can sue over medical malpractice-related deaths.