Senate panel approves bill to establish blood clot tracking amid changes and new questions

Woman, pharmacist and hands on tablet in medical research, inventory or ecommerce order on pharmacy app. Closeup of person or healthcare professional working on technology for telehealth or checklist.

A bill that would establish a statewide tracking and treatment registry for blood clots in Florida is one committee stop away from heading to the Senate floor.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services approved the “Emily Adkins Family Protection Act.” That panel concluded that the state should establish a statewide registry for blood clots reports within the Department of Health.

The proposed measure is named after Emily Adkins, who died at 23 years old due to an undetected blood clot following a broken ankle in 2023. While the Senate committee approved the measure, some new questions came up about the bill (SB 890) sponsored by Jacksonville Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough.

The committee deleted earlier language that would have required tracking impacts from thromboembolism and additional training for personnel who are not physicians.

There were also several representatives from the assisted care facilities industry in Florida who argued that they should not be included in the stipulations of the proposed bill.

Bijou Ikli, CEO of the Florida Assisted Living Association, said she supports tracking blood clot data. But the requirement for assisted living facilities be tasked with such a measure does not fall within the purview of those facilities. They are not medical institutions, she said.

“The expectation for assisted living facilities is unrealistic,” Ikli said as she addressed the committee. “We have residents, we don’t have patients. We rely on our health care partners. …  Assisted living facilities are not there to diagnose.”

Yarborough later said there is “an open door” to possibly modifying the language of the bill before it goes to a full vote on the floor of the Senate.

The proposed registry would serve as a catalog to keep data on demographics such as age, gender and ZIP codes of Floridians who are suffering from blood clots who live independently or in assisted care facilities. Medical professionals have heralded the measure of being the first of its kind in America and say it’s long overdue.

Adkins’ mother, Janet Adkins, a former Florida Representative, spoke at the committee hearing Tuesday and said that after the tragedy involving her daughter, the state needs to track blood clot data.

“Who knew blood clots could impact young people?” Adkins said.

A companion bill (HB 1421) in the House sponsored by Rep. Dean Black, a Jacksonville Republican, must still go to the House Health and Human Services Committee for review before reaching the floor.