FLORIDA — “I’m really disappointed, we've come so far,” said Sabrina Davis.
“We are feeling discouraged, but we're not going to stop. We fought so hard for this,” said Cindy Jenkins.
Watch the full report from Katie Lagrone
They are among families in Florida who aggressively fought to end what they’ve long dubbed Florida’s “free kill” law.
The 35-year-old law known, formally as the Wrongful Death Act, prohibits families from suing for non-economic damages if an unmarried loved one 25 years or older, unexpectedly dies from medical negligence.
Florida is the only state with such a law on the books.
For Davis, she believes the law has kept her from getting justice after her father died of an undiagnosed blood clot while he was in the hospital. She first told us her story in 2023.
For Jenkins, she’s been fighting since her 25-year-old daughter, Taylor, died in a hospital after Jenkins said she was misdiagnosed with a brain injury following a car accident.
After years of failed attempts in this session, lawmakers in both the House and Senate approved a bill that would finally repeal the law.
However, during a press conference on Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis explained why he plans to veto the bill.
“That is going to lead to a flood of lawsuits against practitioners and against hospitals. Malpractice premiums are going to go up and it’s going to be hard to recruit physicians into Florida. Ultimately healthcare costs will go up,” he said.
The Governor’s sentiments echo that of healthcare advocates and lobbyists who have long fought against a full repeal despite federal data that shows the law has done little if anything to reduce the state’s skyrocketing number of malpractice cases and payouts.
We first revealed the law’s failures back in 2023. Since then, we’ve been following family efforts to get it off the books.
Governor DeSantis, who supports capping how much families can collect in damages to stop what he called, “jackpot justice”, said he feels for families impacted by the law but doesn’t believe a full repeal is the answer.
“You have to look at the global view what is it going to do for the overall access to care, crisis, the willingness of physicians to come here and that was very clear to me in speaking to folks,” he told reporters.
Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for a full repeal this session.
But whether they will try and override the Governor’s expected veto remains to be seen. It will take a 2/3 majority vote in both the House and Senate to override any veto from the Governor. Since Governor DeSantis took office, lawmakers have not even attempted to override a single veto.
In an email, a spokesperson for Senate President Ben Albritton said in response to questions about an override vote, “he is not planning to weigh in at this time.”
This leaves families wondering if the lawmakers who fought with them during the session will keep fighting now that the session is over.
“The people have spoken. The House has spoken; the Senate has spoken. It should be a no-brainer,” Jenkins said.
“I hope they stay true to their original vote, and they do stick to it. But honestly, I’m unsure what will happen next,” said Davis.
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