A.G. Gancarski
Gov. Ron DeSantis says he will reject a bill (HB 6017) repealing a 35-year-old so-called “free kill” law that blocks adult children over 25 and their parents from suing for pain and suffering due to wrongful deaths caused by medical malpractice.
And DeSantis said a reason he was killing the measure was to stop “jackpot justice” that strikes him as being like “winning the lottery.”
“It would cause malpractice insurance premiums to skyrocket. The folks that we talked to universally said that,” DeSantis said in Dade City.
The Governor wanted caps on potential payouts. Such provisions were in the Senate product at one point but ultimately didn’t make the final version, as that body passed the House measure by a vote of 33-4.
DeSantis noted that when the bill was passed in 1990 by Gov. Lawton Chiles, Florida had a “massive, massive malpractice insurance crisis in Florida,” and premiums are still high despite protections for the doctors.
“I know there have been people that have been victimized, have family members, and it’s a really, really sad thing,” DeSantis said. “But I also know you have to look at the global view. What is it going to do for the overall access to care prices, the willingness of physicians to come here? And that was very clear to me in speaking with folks.”
