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<\/p>\nThe new billboard along Interstate 95, just south of the Florida-Georgia line, delivers a stark message to motorists who think they\u2019re entering a state where things are always sunny. It says: \u201cWELCOME TO THE FREE KILL STATE OF FLORIDA.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The words, printed next to a picture of the state\u2019s governor, certainly deliver a jolt.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s nothing compared to the shock sustained by the grieving father who paid for the sign. First, Daryl Perritt\u2019s 33-year-old son died in the hospital. Then Perritt said he couldn\u2019t even find out why, thanks to a bizarre law, unique to Florida, meant to protect negligent health care providers.<\/p>\n
The law essentially says that, even if a provider negligently kills an adult patient, family members can\u2019t sue for pain, suffering and answers \u2014 unless the dead patient has a spouse or minor children.<\/p>\n
So if you have a 25-year-old daughter who has yet to marry or have kids, you can\u2019t sue. The same goes for your mother and father if their spouse has already passed away.<\/p>\n
It also applied to Perritt\u2019s son, Cameron \u2014 a gregarious 33-year-old who loved to make people laugh and smoke ribs in the family\u2019s popular St. Augustine smokehouse.<\/p>\n
According to Perritt, Cameron had a history of blood clots and was admitted to the hospital last fall coughing up black blood and yet didn\u2019t get surgery until three days later, when the hospital staff told him they probably couldn\u2019t save him.<\/p>\n
Perritt was heartbroken. But he also wanted answers. And justice. And his grief turned to outrage when he learned that he couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it happened in Georgia, this would have been different,\u201d Perritt said. \u201cIf it happened when he was 24 or if he had a wife or children, all of this would be different. It put me in a very dark place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawmakers from both parties agree this law should be repealed. In fact, in a rare display of bipartisan agreement, both chambers voted overwhelmingly last year to repeal this ugly protection for negligent health care providers.<\/p>\n
But then Gov. Ron DeSantis \u2014 after hearing and taking campaign contributions from the business, medical and insurance lobbies \u2014 vetoed the measure.<\/p>\n
DeSantis described families who sue doctors as seeking \u201cjackpot justice\u201d \u2014 a phrase that infuriates Perritt, since he never wanted to become a member of the grim fraternity of fathers who bury their kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need money. I got plenty of money,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat I need are answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
See, that\u2019s one of the things that people who casually demonize litigation forget. Sometimes, lawsuits are the only way families can get answers.<\/p>\n
In Perritt\u2019s case, he said he believes his son needed surgery immediately \u2014 and that family members tried to stress the urgency the moment Cameron was admitted \u2014 but that the hospital delayed until it was too late.<\/p>\n
Maybe Perritt is wrong. Maybe the hospital did everything by the book. But by denying the family the chance to sue, it can\u2019t force the kind of disclosure that litigation often reveals. \u201cWe\u2019ve been ghosted,\u201d Perritt said. \u201cWhat this law does is hide those answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how Florida\u2019s business lobby wants it. Back in 1990, the medical and insurance lobby convinced the Legislature, which was run by Democrats at the time, to insert a carve-out in the state\u2019s Wrongful Death Act that essentially sets different values on the lives of different humans.<\/p>\n
If your 24-year-old son dies on the operating table during a routine procedure, you can sue for pain, suffering and answers. But if your 26-year-old son dies \u2014 and isn\u2019t married and doesn\u2019t have kids \u2014 you can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
The carve-out disproportionately affects widows, widowers and special-needs adults who are less likely to marry or have kids, devaluing their lives in a way that critics say makes them \u201cfree kills.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though lawmakers from both parties say the law should be repealed, the state\u2019s business interests have run an intense \u2014 and threatening \u2014 lobbying campaign to keep it in place.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the Florida Chamber of Commerce warned lawmakers that any vote to repeal the measure would be double-weighted against them in the chamber\u2019s annual \u201cHow they Voted\u201d report card that helps business interests decide which politicians are worthy of campaign contributions.<\/p>\n
The medical and insurance lobby says the free-kill provision is needed to address sky-high insurance costs in Florida and a shortage of doctors, as well as to combat families eager for big payouts.<\/p>\n
The last part of that argument is pretty callous. Most people would rather still have their parents or children than a verdict. But the other parts of their argument also crumble under serious thought and examination.<\/p>\n
First of all, no family gets paid unless a jury determines that negligence occurred or a health care provider decides to make a settlement to avoid the jury even getting that chance.<\/p>\n
Second, the \u201cfree kill\u201d carve out obviously didn\u2019t address the insurance rates and doctor-shortage issues, because it has been in place for 35 years, and those issues still exist.<\/p>\n
Many doctors agree, saying the \u201cfree kill\u201d provision is just a red-herring. That includes Dr. Joel Rudman, a physician and former GOP legislator who told lawmakers last year: \u201cDoctors aren\u2019t going to leave Florida because of this bill \u2014 no good doctor. If a bad doctor wants to leave, bye.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawmakers are trying again. Newly filed House Bill 6003 has both Republican and Democratic sponsors, including local Democratic reps Johanna Lopez and Anna Eskamani.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m impressed lawmakers are trying again. I would\u2019ve been more impressed if Republican leaders had summoned the courage to override the governor\u2019s veto last year when they clearly had the numbers to do so.<\/p>\n