Lawmakers pass wrongful death bill. Will Gov. DeSantis wield veto pen?
More people will be able to sue for and receive noneconomic damages – such as pain and suffering and mental anguish – when their relative dies because of medical malpractice under a bill passed by the Legislature May 1.
The Senate voted 33-4 on HB 6017, sending the bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk. It had passed the House by an overwhelming 104-6 vote on March 26. But whether DeSantis will sign it into law or veto it is an open question.
The Senate vote came a day after the bill sponsor – Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville – offered an amendment to put a $1 million cap on noneconomic damages. He said he did it as a way to assuage concerns from DeSantis the bill would lead to higher rates for medical malpractice insurance and exacerbate a health care provider shortage in the state. But the Senate rejected the amendment on a narrow 18-19 vote.
'I can't speak for him but I believe the governor is of the opinion that it would be better if it had some limitations on the damages,' Yarborough told reporters after the vote.
Yarborough said after postponing a vote on the bill April 30, he moved forward with the measure without the caps - risking a veto from DeSantis – because he committed to families who lost loved ones due to medical malpractice and were unable to recover pain and suffering damages.
'At the end of the day my commitment to the families of those impacted was that we go ahead and do it anyway,' Yarborough said.
Under current law, children age 25 and older who have an unmarried parent die due to medical malpractice can only recover economic damages – for funeral costs and medical expenses, for example – but not for pain and suffering, which can be much more costly. The parents of adult children who die due to medical malpractice are also barred from receiving noneconomic damages.
The law was put in place in 1990 and has been decried by those affected and by the trial bar lobby. It was passed to lower medical malpractice rates and insurers, physicians' groups and hospitals argue repealing it could lead to a spike in rates that pushes physicians and other health care providers out of Florida.
Florida is already projected to have significant deficits in a broad array of providers, including obstetricians, opponents of the bill argue, as the state continues to grow and Baby Boomer retirees move here.
'Without caps in this legislation we are going to have a huge increase in medical malpractice,' said Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, one of the four no votes. 'And we're going to have a huge increase in physicians leaving.'
Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lawmakers pass wrongful death bill. Will Gov. DeSantis veto?
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