Jesse Scheckner
A bill aimed at improving the screening, treatment and public awareness of venous thromboembolism (VTE) — potentially life-threatening in-vein blood clots — is now law.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed HB 1421, which mandates that all Florida hospitals with emergency departments and ambulatory surgical centers develop and implement protocols for asserting VTE risk using nationally recognized tools.
It also requires hospitals to train non-physician clinical staff on policies and procedures for giving appropriate medical attention for patients at risk of VTE and amends state statutes to include VTE among Florida’s recognized chronic diseases.
A central provision of the law, titled the “Emily Adkins Family Protection Act,” is the creation of a statewide VTE registry. The Florida Department of Health must contract with a qualified nonprofit to maintain the registry at no cost to the state.
Beginning July 1, 2026, hospitals must report VTE-related data — demographics, diagnosis methods, treatments and outcomes — to the registry, which will be used to monitor care quality and outcomes.
Nursing homes and assisted living staff must also receive new VTE-related training, and assisted living facilities must distribute informational pamphlets on VTE to residents.
A comprehensive report analyzing statewide VTE incidence and hospital data is due to the Governor and Legislature by June 2026.
The legislation is named for Emily Adkins, a Fernandina Beach woman who died from a pulmonary embolism in 2022. She was 23.
An estimated 60,000 to 100,000 Americans die yearly from VTE, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found roughly 900,000 people in the U.S. area affected by the condition.
Rep. Dean Black, who carried HB 1421 to unanimous passage with Sen. Clay Yarborough, a fellow Jacksonville Republican, told Florida Politics that the new law will lead to many lives being saved and Florida becoming a national leader in VTE treatment.
“No one has ever decided to systematically aggregate data on the incidence and treatment methodologies for blood clots,” he said.
“Where would be if no one had really done that so we could study, say, heart disease or cancer or any of the other major health problems that humanity has? Aggregating all of this data and setting it up so the best and brightest minds can work on it is going to save lives, and it was really an honor to carry it and work with my Senate sponsor, Clay Yarborough.”
HB 1421, which Yarborough substituted in for his version of the legislation (SB 890), passed with unanimous support in both chambers of the Legislature.
“We all shared a vision,” Black said. “It was an example of bipartisanship and government working together for the benefit of Floridians and humanity.”
In his closing remarks before the bill cleared the Senate floor on April 28, Yarborough thanked stakeholder groups and health care professionals for providing input on VTE and credited Adkins’ parents, Doug and Janet, and her brother, Douglas, for working to make a change.
“It’s because of their tireless work and dedication,” Yarborough said, “that we’re at the point that we are today.”
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Andrew Powell of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
