Fighting a little-known Florida law that frequently prevents lawsuits by relatives of patients who die due to a doctor’s negligence because either the patient or the distressed survivor was over the age of 25, patient rights activists are working to overturn the 30-year-old law that’s become known as the “free kill” bill, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The 1990 law prevents lawsuits from survivors over the age of 25 from suing a doctor if a relative dies of malpractice, and it greatly limits the number of people eligible to sue for pain and suffering due to the premature death of a loved one. The law prevents anyone over 25 from suing doctors for pain and loss judgments in malpractice lawsuits over the death of a parent if the parent were divorced or unmarried, but it allows a spouse or a minor child to sue.
“Our current laws don’t reflect that families come in all shapes and sizes,” said Florida Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, who is planning to introduce legislation to revoke the statute. “No matter who you leave behind — it should protect families equally in cases of wrongful death.”