A proposal to repeal a Florida medical malpractice law hit last-minute roadblocks in the state Senate, the Orlando Sentinel reported May 1.
The 1990 law states that if a physician’s error results in the death of someone who is over 25, unmarried and without children, no one can sue for pain and suffering. Some patient advocates say that millions of Floridians have been effectively blocked from seeking economic damages in these cases because the payout is so small that lawyers are unlikely to take the case.
Senators reportedly seemed likely to pass the legislation after members of the state House voted to approve the bill in March.
According to the report, Sen. Clay Yarborough, the bill’s sponsor, tabled the bill April 30. The legislative session is scheduled to end May 2. The move “stunned” advocates present in the Senate gallery, who claimed it appeared that special interest groups were “working behind the scenes” to alter the bill.
“We are shocked and appalled,” Lauren Korniyenko, whose mother died in Brevard (Fla.) County hospital two days after a hip surgery, told the Sentinel. “It’s a tragedy of justice. It’s a total subversion of how the legislative process is supposed to work.”
Mr. Yarborough attempted to amend the bill to impose a $1 million cap on pain-and-suffering damages in wrongful death medical malpractice suits. According to the Sentinel, he described the amendment as a result of negotiations needed to enhance the bill’s likelihood of becoming law. Business and healthcare groups have lobbied for caps, but lawyers have argued against them.
The caps were rejected in a senate vote on April 30. Mr. Yarborough told the Sentinel via text that he pulled the bill so he could try to gather support for the amendment.
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