North Florida State Senator Clay Yarborough wants to pass more medical malpractice laws this year.
State Sen. Clay Yarborough
Yarborough’s legislation focuses on banning adult children from receiving noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits involving their parent’s death. The bill would cap damages at $500,000 per claimant, lowering it to $150,000 for healthcare practitioners in emergency medical cases.
Medical groups and Doctors support this bill; they say it’s long overdue. One of those groups backing Yarborough is the Florida Medical Association (FMA).
Over the years the FMA has promoted these caps in exchange for supporting the underlying wrongful death legislation.
FMA CEO Chris Clark points out that this bill would be a compromise, but it’s something they have been wanting for some time.
Not only would the proposal limit the caps on noneconomic damages at $500,000 per claimant, but it would also cap the amount of $750,000 on “non-practitioners” who are liable.
Trail lawyers are opposing this bill. The Florida Justice Association (FJA) says that, over the past two sessions, trial lawyers have been unfairly targeted by state lawmakers on several of these bills.
The FJA says the legislation puts a strict dollar amount on the value of every Floridian’s life,” and “caps on the value of life and the suffering these families will endure is a non-starter,” said FJA President Stephen Cain.
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