This time, however, the bill (HB 6003<\/a>) does not have a Senate companion, making its path through the upper chamber more arduous.<\/p>\n And because it passed without any changes, making it essentially the same as last year\u2019s measure, the bill\u2019s survival is unlikely if it again reaches the Governor\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n The House passed HB 6003 by an 88-17 margin, with nearly three times as many \u201cnay\u201d votes Thursday as there were in the chamber last March<\/a> for the bill\u2019s 2025 incarnation.<\/p>\n HB 6003, if it becomes law, would delete a restriction in Florida Statutes blocking the award of noneconomic damages \u2014 grief, loss of companionship, pain and suffering, and the like \u2014 in cases of lethal medical negligence if the victim is 25 or older, unmarried and without children under 25.<\/p>\n Critics of the 35-year-old restriction have dubbed it \u201cfree kill<\/a>,\u201d as it shields careless providers while leaving surviving loved ones without the same court-based remedies available to others.<\/p>\n That restriction is \u201cun-American,\u201d said Fort Pierce Republican Rep. Dana Trabulsy, the co-prime sponsor of HB 6003 with Orlando Democratic Rep. Johanna L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n \u201cConstitutionally in America, we deserve access to the courts. There should be no exceptions to that,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is an unjust law. This is our opportunity to make it right.\u201d<\/p>\n Trabulsy dismissed DeSantis\u2019 explanation for vetoing the bill last year and his assertion that opportunistic lawyers and families would pursue \u201cjackpot justice<\/a>\u201d if the existing law was repealed.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has gone through the courts, and caps have been deemed unconstitutional. That\u2019s why there are no caps on this bill,\u201d she said, referencing Florida cases like Estate of McCall v. United States<\/a>, North Broward Hospital District v. Kalitan<\/a> and the 1991 Alabama case Moore v. Mobile Infirmary Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trabulsy also stressed, as she did as HB 6003 advanced through committees<\/a>, that she believes Florida offers \u201cworld-class health care\u201d and is home to exceptionally capable medical professionals and service providers.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there is medical malpractice, and when there is, we should be able to hold someone accountable,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we can in every other section of law except this one, unless you have a loved one that is over the age of 25, unmarried and (with) no dependents. And in that scenario, your family members just don\u2019t count in the state of Florida. And that\u2019s just wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n L\u00f3pez said HB 6003 is about \u201creal people\u201d and named more than a dozen medical malpractice victims<\/a> whose families had limited ability to seek recompense.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir stories remind us that the language in our legal code has real consequences,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Two other Democratic Representatives \u2014 Kevin Chambliss of Homestead and Yvonne Hinson of Gainesville \u2014 commended Trabulsy for her work and implored their colleagues in the chamber to support the bill.<\/p>\n Chambliss spoke of Ed Salazar, a Miami-Dade County resident and member of the Florida Medical Rights Association whose 28-year-old son Christopher died of cardiopulmonary arrest while recovering from an auto accident in an intensive care unit. Salazar later penned \u201cA Free Kill<\/a>\u201d documenting the family\u2019s difficulties dealing with Florida\u2019s \u201clittle known law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith this vote,\u201d Chambliss said, \u201cwe will be taking an important step in righting the wrong that has happened to this family.\u201d<\/p>\n Hinson briefly discussed an earlier bill she filed<\/a> to repeal \u201cfree kill\u201d that her House peers ignored and a similar proposal former North Fort Myers Republican Rep. Spencer Roach carried in 2022, which the House passed<\/a>, but the Senate ignored<\/a>.<\/p>\n She praised Trabulsy for \u201cbuilding a system of support\u201d for HB 6003 and urged support for the change.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a good move,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cFree kill\u201d was added to Florida\u2019s books in 1990, when lawmakers added the carve-out to the state\u2019s Wrongful Death Act<\/a>\u00a0in what at the time was presented as an effort to keep medical insurance premiums down.<\/p>\n The opposite occurred, despite the concession.<\/p>\n As HB 6003 moved forward this year, representatives from medical companies and insurance associations spoke against the proposal, cautioning against passing it without caps on damages like the $1 million limit Senators narrowly rejected<\/a>\u00a0before\u00a0passing its predecessor bill<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n The Florida Hospital Association\u2019s General Counsel,\u00a0Kristen Dobson, said in November that Florida is losing doctors at a rate double the national average as obstetricians, surgeons, internists and other specialists face some of the highest medical liability insurance rates in the country.<\/p>\n One major hospital in South Florida saw a 73% year-over-year increase in reinsurance and had to buy insurance through a \u201cbelow \u2018A\u2019-rated carrier\u201d for the first time, she said, attributing the strain felt across the state to liability issues.<\/p>\n Dobson pointed to so-called \u201cnuclear verdicts\u201d \u2014 jury-directed lawsuit awards of $10 million or more \u2014 she said have become \u201cincreasingly common and significantly destabilize the insurance market.\u201d Just two months ago, a jury awarded nearly $71 million<\/a>\u00a0in a single\u00a0case.<\/p>\n \u201cThe increasing threat of nuclear verdicts holds hospitals and health care providers hostage, forcing them to settle out of court regardless of the merits of the case, which drags up insurance rates and exacerbates the cost of health care, jeopardizing access to critical health care services in Florida,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of this bill will be paid by Floridians, particularly those living in rural communities. Fewer doctors means longer wait times, worsening medical conditions, increased (emergency department use) and higher overall health care costs.\u201d<\/p>\n Trabulsy said Thursday that admonishments of so-called \u201cnuclear verdicts\u201d are scare tactics and such awards won\u2019t happen in Florida if HB 6003 becomes law.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was said that we will have family members coming out of the woodwork to sue \u2014 we will have multiple family members and there will be nuclear verdicts multiple times for one victim. That\u2019s just not true,\u201d she said. \u201cAn estate has to be formed. An estate \u2026 brings forth the case, not individual family members. So it\u2019s just not true.\u201d<\/p>\n HB 6003 does not need a sponsor or companion bill in the Senate to pass. The Senate can take it up directly, assign it to appropriate committees \u2014 or waive reference \u2014 and vote on it, amended or as-is, and return it to the House for concurrence.<\/p>\n The Senate could also replace the text of a Senate bill with the House language via a strike-all amendment.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Influence_FGAT_Banner_728x90.jpg\")
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