TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Florida patients could soon have more power to take legal action against doctors who make serious mistakes, as lawmakers tackle closing the state’s so-called “Free Kill” loophole in their first bill of the legislative session.
The issue has persisted despite Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoing similar legislation last spring. Currently, if a single adult dies from medical negligence in Florida, their adult children cannot sue over the death, a legal gap that has left families like Beth Young’s without recourse.
Young’s mother, 66-year-old Deborah Linthicum, died in August 2023 after what should have been a one-night stay at the hospital for a routine procedure. Instead, after a week in the hospital, Linthicum never went home.
“She just was a very kind person, you know, and it’s heartbreaking that she’s not here because she was only 66, you know, and she had plenty of life left,” Young said.
Young believes malpractice from the procedure contributed to her mother’s death, citing conflicting medical opinions about the cause.
“One doctor said that it was old blood that she had prior to the procedure. And then the other doctor who did the to try to fix her with her brain, said there was only new blood,” Young said. “So, having different things of, old and new, it kind of like showed me, hey, this is, we need to look into this.”
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Young didn’t pursue the case further because of Florida’s legal loophole, which prevents adult children from suing when a single adult dies from medical negligence.
“It’s nothing about the jackpot justice and none of the money. I’d rather have my mother. Because she deserved quality of life,” Young said.
Young’s story isn’t unique in Florida. Sabrina Davis has been pushing to repeal the loophole for years after her father, Keith, died in a Hillsborough County hospital five years ago following a misdiagnosis. The state fined the doctor over her father’s death.
“I truly believe that if I had the opportunity that other people have to take this doctor to court for everything like other people have, then maybe we could have a safer health care system,” Davis said.
On Wednesday, a House committee passed a bill that would close the loophole. Rep. Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, sponsored the legislation.
“And I don’t think that is fair. I think that our families deserve justice for their loved ones who have been victims of medical malpractice,” Trabulsy said.
The healthcare industry opposed the bill during Wednesday’s committee hearing, with some arguing it could worsen Florida’s doctor shortage.
Dr. Andrew Borom, a Tallahassee surgeon, told the committee the legislation would discourage physicians from practicing in Florida.
“There’s an old trope in economics that if you want more of something, you reward it, if you want less of something, you punish it,” Borom said. “It doesn’t make any sense to me if the legislature has such a low value for physicians in this state, wants to disincentivize physicians from coming here or from continuing to practice, that they go ahead and consider a bill like this.”
The Florida legislature already considered similar legislation last session, passing it overwhelmingly. However, DeSantis vetoed the bill because it didn’t include damage caps.
“If you do that, then you are totally disincentivizing frivolous lawsuits because they’ll know there’s a limited amount an attorney is going to be able to recover,” DeSantis said in May.
Trabulsy defended her approach, noting that damage caps have been found unconstitutional.
“Well, I truly believe that my version was the right version last year. I know that one of the things that the governor really wanted us to add was caps, but caps have been found to be unconstitutional,” Trabulsy said.
For Young, repealing the “Free Kill” loophole would help hundreds of Florida families facing similar tragedies.
“We want our families back. We want our family members. Nothing can give us justice or whatever, but repealing this law for the next victims or the next families would help,” Young said.
The bill hasn’t been filed in the Senate yet, though senators are expected to file companion legislation in the coming weeks. Florida remains the only state that bans some people from suing for wrongful death in medical malpractice cases.
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