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‘Free kill’ fix moves forward in Senate as survivors argue for medical malpractice reform

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Sen. Clay Yarborough’s proposal to fix a long-standing gap in state law that penalizes certain survivors of deaths at the hands of negligent doctors continues to move.

The Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services is the latest panel to advance SB 734, which Yarborough calls a “clean repeal” of state statute — 768.21(8) — prohibiting adult children and their parents from collecting negligence and non-economic “pain and suffering” damages for medical malpractice.

Yarborough says the current state of play “singled out a narrow group of survivors who cannot recover non-economic damages in the case of a wrongful death due to medical negligence, even though the same damages can be recovered by survivors for a wrongful death that is caused by all other forms of negligence.”

Florida is the only state in the nation with the restriction on its books. Lawmakers passed it in 1990 when the state was trying to rein in increasing medical malpractice costs and attract more doctors to the state.

Yarborough stressed that most doctors do a good job.

“This is in no way a knock against the medical profession or anyone in it because Florida has some of the best health care providers and institutions in the country and beyond. I do not have a statistic to quote, but I will venture to say, we likely have a low single-digit percentage of those in Florida’s health care community that have issues with malpractice or negligence,” Yarborough said, framing his bill as being about “accountability” and “the value of life.”

More than two dozen speakers showed up with passionate cases for or against the legislation.

Opponents made the case that medical malpractice insurance has gotten more expensive and more difficult to procure in the last few years, so the pool of claimants should be expanded.

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital’s Judy Davis, a risk manager, said that “bad, unfortunate outcomes” do happen, but only 1 in 4 of them involve “some degree of negligence.”

“When physicians and hospitals have to pay large sums of money, it does reflect in higher insurance premiums,” Davis said.

Andy Bolin of the Florida Justice Civil Reform Institute said his clients “face the highest medical malpractice premiums” in the U.S. He argued that “infusing” new cases into the system would make that problem worse, and suggested that if the bill must go forward, damages need to be capped.

Associated Industries of Florida’s Adam Basford urged lawmakers to take a “holistic” view of the problem and “mitigate” the impact on providers.

The Florida Chamber’s Carolyn Johnson warned that the bill would increase litigation, insurance rates and health care costs, while decreasing access to care.

Proponents argued that survivors need the opportunity for compensation without caps.

Some told their personal stories of treatment deferred with horrible consequences and no recourse, while their advocates made the larger case for change.

AARP’s Karen Murillo said current law discriminates against older adults, arguing that people are being deprived of justice and rejecting the idea that this class of claimants should be held responsible for reducing liability for medical providers.

Ethan Perez described maltreatment for his grandfather that included injection with hydrogen peroxide, which an autopsy deemed to be “homicide,” but which was protected under current law.

“Civil lawsuits have an opportunity to reveal criminal wrongdoing,” Perez said, adding that his family is “being left without justice” due to the current “inhumane and barbaric” free kill law.

Lauren Korienko said her mother was found dead in a hospital bed, “covered with blood” after a minor surgery because medical professionals let her bleed to death over the course of 24 hours and succumb to septic shock. Her family was aghast to find they lacked recourse and protection under state law that makes Florida a “sanctuary for medical malpractice.”

Darcy McGill, another person who buried her mother after maltreatment, called Florida’s “free kill” law the state’s “dirty little secret.”

“I’ve yet to hear one good reason why my life is less valuable because I’m married and without children,” McGill said.

After the testimony, Senators diverged on whether the bill could work ahead of the bill moving forward.

Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell said the right move wasn’t this bill, but was to empower the Board of Medicine.

Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur said other states had these provisions without caps, so Florida should as well.

Democrat Sen. Darryl Rouson said the passage of the bill would be a “milestone moment” for people without recourse until now.

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Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics contributed to this report.


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Obscene heckler doesn’t stop bill targeting ‘academic boycott’ of Israel from advancing in Senate

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The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee was the first Senate panel to approve Sen. Tom Leek’s measure (SB 1678) which would defend Israel against its opponents in schools and non-governmental agencies.

That bill suggests anti-Israeli actions undertaken by “an educational institution, a nonprofit organization, an agency, a local governmental entity or unit thereof, or a foreign government” amount to an “academic boycott.”

It urges cessation of state contracts and grants with those entities on the wrong side of the ideological conflict if they don’t change their ways.

These entities would have 90 days to correct their noncompliance and be removed from what would be called the Scrutinized Companies or Other Entities that Boycott Israel List under this proposal. Otherwise, the state would divest itself of contracts with them.

Even before Leek could speak, a member of the crowd called the bill “f****** b*******.” She was immediately excused from the room.

A delete all amendment clarified that public funds, such as the State Board of Administration or State University System, cannot invest in these companies. Additionally, it requires that Arts and Culture grants not go to support antisemitic work.

The bill would also target agreements, like foreign exchange programs, with foreign universities deemed to be supporting antisemitism.

Members of the public complained about the legislation, saying it restricted “academic freedom” and offered support to an Israeli regime they find objectionable.

However, others said the bill was necessary.

Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez noted the Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement was targeting cities like his, and the legislation was a way to counter “hateful campaigns from a noisy minority.”

Chair Randy Fine hailed Leek for carrying the bill, saying he’d worried about leaving Tallahassee and having no one carry this kind of legislation,

Leek’s bill has two more committee references.

Rep. Hillary Cassel’s bill (HB 1519) the companion legislation, also has two stops in the House. But it has yet to have a committee hearing.


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Senate bill that could lead to execution of would-be political assassins begins to move

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The bill was inspired by the violence at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

Those looking to harm Presidents, Governors and other heads of state may pay the ultimate price in Florida — even if they don’t succeed in killing their target.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia’s measure (SB 776) which cleared the Criminal Justice Committee, contemplates adding to Florida law that the death sentence can be issued when a “capital felony was committed against the head of a state, including, but not limited to, the President or the Vice President of the United States or the Governor of this or another state, or in an attempt to commit such crime a capital felony was committed against another individual.”

Ingoglia noted that “the death penalty is reserved for those convicted of heinous crimes” and that his helps to facilitate that by adding aggravating factors of an assassination of a head of state or the killing of another person in attempting to do so. He described the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the concomitant killing of Corey Comperatore as heinous and worthy of extraordinary sanction in law.

One citizen opposed the bill.

Grace Hannah of Floridians Opposed to the Death Penalty said the bill would fall under federal jurisdiction and that an incident like that contemplated by the bill is “extremely rare.”

The bill is also moving in the House.

Jeff Holcomb’s legislation (HB 653) has one stop to go before the floor.


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Linda McMahon says school choice expansion is ‘a continuing process,’ but will be up to states

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Education Secretary Linda McMahon says she and her boss in the White House are both “strong proponents” of school choice, but the federal government’s role in expanding it will be limited under President Donald Trump.

“It’s a continuing process” that must be pursued at the state level, not mandated by Washington, she said.

“The rub is that teacher unions say it’s going to bankrupt the public schools (and serve only students with no other options). I think we’re clearly proving that is not the case.”

McMahon’s comments came Tuesday afternoon during a roundtable discussion on education at the Kendall campus of True North Classical Academy, a charter network operating in Miami-Dade’s unincorporated Kendall neighborhood. It was one of multiple school visits she had planned in the county that day.

Other roundtable participants included, among others, Interim Florida International University President and immediate past Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega, Miami-Dade School Board member Monical Colucci, former state Rep. Michael Bileca, charter school magnate Fernando Zuleta, and former Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds, a pro-charter education activist whose husband, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, is the presumptive GOP front-runner in the 2026 Governor’s race.

Zuleta, the founder and President of for-profit charter school management company Academica, said that while Florida has been a leader on school choice, many places in the U.S. remain “choice deserts.”

He urged McMahon to look into the matter. McMahon nodded while he spoke, but made no commitment to do so.

While the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) role in implementing school choice policies will be limited, Donalds hinted that the agency isn’t taking a passive stance on the matter. She said people should “be on the lookout” in the coming days for federal guidance on further empowering parents.

McMahon, a 76-year-old former professional wrestling promoter, past Administrator of the Small Business Administration and ex-member of the Connecticut State Board of Education, reiterated that she has a “mandate” from Trump to abolish the USDOE. Last week, the Department announced it was cutting its staff from some 4,100 employees to 2,200.

That was a “first step” toward fulfilling the President’s wishes of shutting down the agency, she said. She referred to the layoffs as “trimming.”

McMahon said she’s tasking the remaining staff at USDOE staff with assembling a set of guiding principles from which state and local governments can take cues.

“We really want to leave best practice in place to provide states with the right tools,” she said, adding that if she is indeed America’s last Education Secretary, “I will have been successful at my job.”


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