FORT MYERS, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has vetoed a controversial medical malpractice bill during a visit to Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers.
House Bill 6017, passed by state lawmakers this year, would have allowed more family members to file medical malpractice lawsuits over the deaths of their parents and adult children. It would have repealed a law that capped who could file lawsuits and the amount of money they could receive if a medical mistake was made.
DeSantis said repealing the law would cause the number of lawsuits against hospitals and doctors to skyrocket.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price explains the vetoed bill:
Price was at the announcement where DeSantis and medical professionals from Lee Health argued that the legislation would increase healthcare costs, reduce physician access, and potentially harm Florida's healthcare system.
"Physicians were leaving the state, it really had a bad impact on access to care. So the Florida Legislature overhauled how medical malpractice actions are done in these instances of the wrongful death," DeSantis said.
The governor emphasized the need for regulatory and professional accountability over litigation, noting that Florida excels in physician training, but accountability is necessary when carelessness occurs.
"I think the question is, is in case like this, what's the best way to do that? Is it to open flood gates for non-economic damages, knowing you're going to get a lot of lawsuits that are going to be brought against a lot of physicians who weren't necessarily negligent, right?" DeSantis said.
Lee Health speakers supported the governor's plan to veto the bill.
"We here at Lee health, we are recruiting literally hundreds of physicians every year, and this is a deterrent. There are other places that people are going to want to go because of the risk of malpractice and anything that increases, that is not good policy, and it's not smart," a Lee Health representative said.
Lee Health CEO, Dr. Larry Antonucci, said the bill would especially hurt high-risk specialties like obstetrics, gynecology, and emergency medicine.
"They deserve a strong, sustainable healthcare system, and this and this bill just simply doesn't do that. It's focused on legalities. It's focused on finance," Antonucci said.
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