‘There simply isn’t enough justice to go around’: Controversial ‘free kill’ law to survive with Governor’s veto

Following through on his mid-May vow to do so, Gov. Ron DeSantis has blocked bipartisan legislation that would have repealed a decades-old Florida law that critics derisively dubbed “free kill.”

In a letter to House Speaker Daniel Perez, DeSantis confirmed he vetoed the measure, maintaining the state’s existing prohibition on lawsuits by unmarried adults over 25 and their parents from suing for pain and suffering due to a wrongful death caused by medical malpractice.

He framed his decision as one based on financial impact, keeping Florida attractive to doctors and maintaining the state’s level of health care as its insurance market stabilizes.

“What would this legislation do for the cost of health care in Florida, access to care in Florida and our ability to recruit and keep physicians?” he said at a Thursday press conference announcing his plan to kill the bill. “It would lead to higher costs for Floridians. It would lead to less access to care in Florida. It would make it harder for us to keep, recruit and maintain physicians in the state of Florida.”

As he did earlier this month, the Governor cited a lack of caps on legal damages in the bill as a significant flaw.

Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo agreed, calling the Governor’s veto “the right thing to do.”

“The issue of justice, legal justice, economic damages, non-economic damages — there simply isn’t enough justice to go around and have the system be able to stand up on its two feet,” Ladapo said.

“It’s just not possible. And the right thing to do, the wise thing to do in that situation, is to have caps. Frankly, it’s insane to have a system with no caps on non-economic damages and expect for that system to continue to sustain itself and function as it was intended to function, which is to provide care to patients.”

Florida is the only state to have a law like “free kill.” It was enacted in 1990 as part of an expansion to the state’s Wrongful Death Act, with proponents saying at the time that doing otherwise would send medical malpractice insurance premiums skyrocketing and doctors fleeing to other states.

Proponents of the repeal bill (HB 6017) — including Jacksonville Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough, Orlando Democratic Rep. Johanna López and Fort Pierce Republican Rep. Dana Trabulsy — said insurance costs have gone up anyway and maintain that the restriction should never have passed.

But DeSantis proclaimed the measure dead on arrival at a May 15 press conference, echoing financial concerns detractors shared as HB 6017 and its Senate companion (SB 734) advanced in their respective chambers.

He also pointed to the failure of an amendment Yarborough proffered that would have capped payouts at $1 million. Stuart Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell, a health care information technology executive, also cited the amendment’s narrow failure as her reason for voting against the bill, which passed 33-4 in the Senate and 104-6 in the House.

“If you had caps on the amount of damages, people could see that would disincentivize a lot of jackpot justice,” he said, noting that plaintiffs today aren’t blocked from seeking economic damages related to medical malpractice, only non-economic ones pertaining to grief and sorrow.

“You can already do economic damages (and with caps), then you would be able to do non-economic damages, but you would not be able to hit the lottery.”

Karen Aguilar, whose elderly father died in January due to alleged negligence at a Pasco County hospital, called the Governor’s choice of words “disgraceful.”

“No, we’re not sitting here trying to get rich,” she told WFLA a day after the press conference. “We want accountability.”

Aguilar wasn’t alone in noting that for most people, losing a 25-year-old child or parent to medical malpractice wouldn’t feel like winning the lottery.

After DeSantis announced the veto, Yarborough released a statement expressing disappointment in the decision but deference to the Governor and his role in state policymaking. He also confirmed he would not seek a veto override, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers.

That’s still possible, given the support HB 6017 received this year, but unlikely without the Senate sponsor’s support of such action.

“I accept the Governor’s decision,” Yarborough said. “For me, this discussion has always been about the dignity and the inherent, God-given value of every human life. While no sum of money can replace the loss of life, our laws should not place some lives at a higher value than others when it comes to the profound and lasting impact of medical negligence on a family. From the time the Governor took office, his actions have demonstrated he shares these views on the value of every life.”

Trabulsy, meanwhile, unsuccessfully urged DeSantis to reconsider in a letter Thursday, arguing that removing the exemption would restore fairness and accountability to the state’s legal system.

“We are the only state that shields bad actors from accountability in such a sweeping way,” she said.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle praised HB 6017 as a humane change, righting a long-standing wrong.

Zephyrhills Republican Sen. Danny Burgess said he believed “a clean repeal is the right thing to do,” adding that because a “negligible amount of claims” fit the bill’s narrow scope, ending “free kill” wouldn’t be a significant cost-driver in raising insurance premiums.

“There’s no difference between a 25-year-and-364-day-old adult and a 26-year-old’s value of life, in my opinion, and I don’t think anyone believes that, for the record,” he said, calling the current law “one of the most arbitrary of laws we have on our books.”

Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Hollywood Democrat-turned-independent, said arguments that doctors wouldn’t be able to secure medical malpractice insurance if HB 6017 passed were “ridiculous.” No separate insurance category exists, he said, that excludes “doctors who specialize in making sure they operate on or treat people who have only adult children who can’t recover” damages under Florida law.

“Let’s not race to the bottom,” Pizzo said. “Let’s make our doctors better, more responsible.”

Ocoee Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, a lawyer, said the measure would help wipe away “a stain on our state’s moral conscience.”

“Grief does not expire at 25. The bond between a parent and child does not dissolve with age, and the right to seek justice should never be determined by a birthday,” she said. “This legislation is more than legal reform; it’s a declaration of humanity.”

Public testimony during the committee process, particularly from surviving family members of malpractice victims, was overwhelmingly supportive of HB 6017.

Cindy Jenkins, whose daughter died two years ago due to what she described as “horrific negligence” at a hospital in Orlando, said medical malpractice premiums are high in Florida because Florida has a lot of medical malpractice.

“The way you decrease medical malpractice premiums is to stop medical malpractice,” she said. “My child is a free kill. I have no justice.”

Lauren Korniyenko’s 70-year-old mother died in a hospital two days after what she called an “uncomplicated surgery to repair a fractured hip.” Brevard County law enforcement cordoned off the room as a possible homicide scene, she said, and the autopsy revealed staff ignored at least 10 “critical signs of a surgical site infection” that led to her death.

“In an era focused on greater scrutiny of government spending, this law enables the waste and abuse of taxpayer money,” she said.

Republican Joel Rudman, a doctor and former House lawmaker, endorsed the legislation in March, arguing that the only medical professionals who want to see the statute remain in place are bad at their jobs. He also rejected arguments that there is a “medical malpractice meltdown” in Florida, with a surge in such legal actions in recent years.

“As a physician, my malpractice rates have remained static in the last decade. It’s not even one of (my) top three expenditures,” he said. “Doctors aren’t going to leave Florida because of this bill — no good doctor. If a bad doctor wants to leave, bye.”

Karen Murillo of AARP Florida said the existing statute “discriminates against older and vulnerable adults” and should be deleted.

But there were numerous opponents of the measure, too, who warned Florida’s sky-high insurance and medical costs could increase further if HB 6017 became law.

“You’re seeing the highest rates in the country in Miami-Dade County in four categories: family practice, emergency room physicians, orthopedists, and we’ve talked about obstetricians,” said David Mica Jr., Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at the Florida Hospital Association.

“One-third of your rural hospitals in this state are operating in the negative margin. … We are talking about receiving care in the areas where we need it.”

Andy Bolin of the Florida Justice Reform Institute said his clients “face the highest medical malpractice premiums” in the U.S. He argued that “infusing” new cases into the system would make that problem worse and suggested that if the bill goes forward, damages must be capped.

Associated Industries of Florida’s Adam Basford urged lawmakers to take a “holistic” view of the problem and “mitigate” the impact on providers.

The Florida Chamber’s Carolyn Johnson said the bill would increase litigation, insurance rates and health care costs while decreasing access to care.

About a week after lawmakers passed the bill, the American Tort Reform Association urged DeSantis to kill the legislation, which it argued “takes Florida in the wrong direction.”

“Signing this legislation is likely to hurt Florida’s health care environment, which already faces physician and specialist shortages and high insurance premiums,” the group’s President, Sherman “Tiger” Joyce, said in a statement. “We expect legislation like this in New York, not in Florida.”

The group applauded DeSantis’ veto on Thursday, calling it a “decisive stand for fairness and common sense in Florida’s courts.”

So did Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse Florida (FL CALA), a Plantation-based nonprofit.

“Once again, the residents of Florida have been safeguarded by the Governor’s strong commitment to civil justice. HB 6017 would have reversed key protections and expanded non-economic damages while opening the door to limitless intangible loss verdicts in areas like pain and suffering,” the group’s Executive Director, Tom Gaitens, said in a statement. “On behalf of our advocates across the state, FL CALA thanks Gov. DeSantis for his commitment to end abusive lawsuits.”

Meanwhile, the Tallahassee-based Florida Justice Association (FJA), which repeatedly advocated for HB 6017 and its Senate analog (SB 734) as they advanced this year through their respective chambers, decried the continuation of what it called “a legal loophole that denies justice to families whose unmarried adult loved ones die due to medical negligence.”

FJA President Todd Michaels pointed out that 93% of the Legislature supported HB 6017. He also noted that when DeSantis announced his plan to veto HB 6017 earlier in the day, he did so without any input or support from people who lost loved ones due to the issue at hand.

“In a room filled with doctors, hospital executives, the insurance industry and other caps proponents, but not a single family or victim of medical negligence — the Governor called for caps in all medical malpractice cases, a clear signal that he prioritizes the financial interests of hospitals, doctors, and insurance companies over the lives and rights of everyday Floridians,” Michaels said in a statement.

Aaron Davis, a partner at the Miami-based law firm Davis Goldman, which specializes in personal injury and medical malpractice cases, also said he was disappointed with the Governor’s decision to veto HB 6017, calling it “a devastating setback for families seeking accountability in the wake of medical negligence.”

“For decades, this outdated provision has denied justice to grieving parents and adult children, and the veto preserves a system that protects negligent providers over victims,” he said in a statement. “This move signals continued barriers in personal injury litigation for families in Florida, but it also underscores the urgency of pushing for reform in future Legislative Sessions.”