Latest news with #FloridaJusticeReformInstitute
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Scott Maxwell: Florida should repeal ‘free kill' law
You may have read about something known as Florida's 'free kill' law — a bizarre law that exists only in Florida. It basically says that, even if you can prove that a health care provider's negligent actions killed an adult member of your member, you can't sue for pain and suffering — unless the dead family member has a spouse or minor children. In other words, the lives of single Floridians, including widows and widowers and those over 25 who haven't yet married, are worth less here. The law essentially channels George Orwell's satirical declaration that all animals are equal — but some are more equal than others. If you know nothing else about this law, it should be a bright, red flag that Florida is the only state with this special protection for negligent practitioners. Well, after decades of criticism, there's momentum to change that. A repeal bill has already cleared several committees this legislative session with broad bipartisan support. But first, it's worth understanding how Florida ended up with a law like this is the first place — namely because Florida lawmakers have systematically stripped you of your rights to sue companies that do you wrong. Florida's 'free kill' law limits who can sue for medical malpractice. Will it end in 2025? You've seen it before. Most recently, GOP lawmakers teamed up with insurance lobbyists to make it harder for you to sue your insurance company — even when your company tries to stiff you out of benefits to which you're clearly entitled. The rationale for stripping you of your right to go after bad actors is usually the same: Businesses shouldn't be bothered with frivolous lawsuits. They drive up everyone's costs. But these laws strip everyone's access to the courts, not just frivolous filers. And the arguments about savings for consumers are usually a bunch of trickle-down fiction. On the heels of Florida's so-called insurance 'reform,' rates shot up for nine consecutive quarters. And 'free kill' critics say Florida never saw the benefits that health care lobbyists promised in exchange for shielding negligent doctors and hospitals from lawsuits. You got conned. Home insurance costs still rising in Florida | Commentary South Florida Republican Rep. Hillary Cassel lit into a health-care lobbyist last week when he made another round of dubious claims, suggesting that repealing this law would simply enrich estranged family members looking for a cash grab. Cassel said the representative for the Florida Chamber of Commerce-created Florida Justice Reform Institute didn't have 'an ounce of data to support that,' calling the claims 'scare tactics.' But Florida's business lobby does more than just try to scare lawmakers. It also threatens them. In 2021, the Florida Chamber of Commerce warned that any lawmaker who voted in favor of repealing the 'free kill' law that year would have their vote negatively double-weighted in the chamber's annual 'How They Voted' report card, according to a Tampa TV station. (The report card lets business lobbyists know which politicians will follow their orders and are consequently worthy of endorsements and campaign checks.) The Chamber wields this double-counting strategy when it knows it's on the wrong side of public opinion and needs to exert extra pressure. It used a similar tactic last year when pressuring lawmakers to make it illegal for Florida counties to pass laws that would guarantee outdoor workers the right to things like shade and water on blistering hot days — a law I dubbed 'The most shameful law Florida passed this year.' Floridians outraged by shameful anti-worker heat law. Here's how it happened | Commentary Historically, the heavy-handed lobbying tactics have been effective with both parties. Democrats, after all, controlled Florida when the 'free kill' provision was enacted in 1990. But this year, both parties seem poised to push back, probably because the horror stories are piling up: A father who died after being given a toxic dose of medication. Or a son whose routine hospital visit ended in death. This year's measure that would repeal Florida's 'free kill' provision, HB 6017, has strong support, passing with committee votes along the lines of 20-1. Its local sponsors include Democrat Johanna Lopez with co-sponsorship from Republican Susan Plasencia and Democrat Anna Eskamani. Lawmakers were moved by stories they've heard from people like Mary Jo Cain Reis, who says her father died of medical negligence at a hospital in Brevard. 'These bad doctors and medical personnel cannot continue to keep killing people and be able to move on,' said Reis, who put up billboards in Central Florida that called for reform. 'There needs to be accountability.' Theoretically, the state has other accountability measures for medical negligence. Families can still sue for economic damages. But complaints to the state are often ignored or slow-rolled. A 2018 investigation by the South Florida Sun Sentinel found Florida's system was slow to punish doctors and quick to let them settle charges without accepting responsibility. Certainly some doctors make earnest mistakes. Some are unfairly sued. But Florida's 'free kill' law doesn't address that. It just says that a health care provider could negligently kill your 75-year-old mother without being sued for pain and suffering — as long as your mom isn't still married. And what kind of sense does that make? Not much, even according to one physician and former GOP legislator who urged lawmakers to repeal Florida's 'free kill' law this year. As Florida Politics reported, Dr. Joel Rudman told lawmakers to ignore the scare tactics. 'Doctors aren't going to leave Florida because of this bill — no good doctor,' Rudman said. 'If a bad doctor wants to leave, bye.' smaxwell@
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lobbyist scolded for ‘scare tactics' in committee debate on wrongful-death bill
(Photo) Rep. Hillary Cassel on Thursday blasted a lobbyist for his testimony on a bill that would increase the potential for wrongful death lawsuits to be filed against Florida doctors and hospitals, accusing him of using scare tactics to try to sink the bill. During public testimony on HB 6017 before the House Judiciary Committee, attorney Mark Berlick said allowing adult children of single parents to sue physicians and hospitals for noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, would open the door to estranged children suing Florida's hospitals and physicians. Berlick, an attorney with the Bolin Law Group, said he represented the Florida Justice Reform Institute, which champions lawsuit limitations. He testified that the 'bulk' of people who would be filing medical malpractice lawsuits are going to be nonstate residents who are estranged from family members who live in Florida. 'So, though you'll end up with the individuals that will end up with a check being sent to them for an individual that never sets foot in the state of Florida, they won't receive any medical care here. They won't have any taxes paid here. They'll just simply receive a settlement check from the death of their relatives,' he said. The comments didn't sit well with Cassel, a Republican who noted that the majority of the people in the committee hearing who testified on behalf of the bill were Florida residents. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'We as members expect that the people that come before us to provide information are going to do so truthfully and with facts, and for the gentleman from the Florida Justice Reform Institute to come before us and assert that the people that are going to benefit from this don't live in this state and must be estranged from their families, and we're going to just be writing checks to estranged members, doesn't have an ounce of data to support that,' Cassel said. 'And that was nothing more than a scare tactic to this committee, and it's an insult on our intelligence, and it's an insult to the people who are here today, who are clearly not estranged from the loved ones that they have lost. And of the ones that have testified, all but two are Floridians. So, if you're going to come before this committee and make assertions about what's going to happen if we pass legislation, I expect you bring facts and data and not scare tactics and opinions.' The insurance industry, Florida hospitals associations, and organized medicine such as the Florida Medical and Florida Osteopathic associations, oppose the bill in its current form. But they are willing to support eliminating the ban if the Legislature agrees to limit damages for pain and suffering. Otherwise, increasing civil liability will further increase medical malpractice insurance rates and drive physicians away from practicing, the opponents say. To date, neither the House nor Senate have included the industry-coveted caps in the bill. The Senate passed its version, SB 734, earlier this week. There are some individual physicians, though, who support the proposal, including former state Rep. Joel Rudman. Rudman resigned from the House to launch an unsuccessful congressional bid but returned Thursday to testify in support of the bill. A Navarre physician, Rudman said he came to Florida from Alabama during the 1990s and the high medical malpractice rates didn't drive him away. The premiums he pays today, he said, haven't changed in a decade. And the costs of the insurance protection from lawsuits isn't among his top three overhead costs. 'I've had a license since 1997, and I've never been sued. I'm very proud of that,' Rudman said. 'It's not because of some bogus protections carve-out in the current statute. It's because I'm damn good at my job. And this bill will not change that, either. The only doctors that want to see this statute remain in place are bad doctors and, unfortunately, we have a few of those in the state of Florida.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
