Justice For Stefan Suto

Fight Florida's "Free Kill" Law
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Florida’s so-called “free kill” law is a strange outlier among wrongful death laws across the country. It has slipped under the radar for years. Renewed bipartisan efforts to eliminate the law were underway in Florida’s 2023 Legislative Session but died in judiciary.

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Senate Democratic leader Lauren Book filed SB 690 in February. It sought to end the law, which prevents families from filing medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors or hospitals when victims are over 25 years old.

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SB 690 was just the latest effort to amend Section 768.21 of Florida Statutes to remove the provision that prohibits surviving family from recovering certain damages in medical negligence suits.

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Florida Legislative Session recap: Florida Legislature's tough-edged session ends with budget, tax breaks and cultural scars

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HB 1435 was a related House bill filed alongside the Senate bill earlier this year, but it also died in Judiciary. Last year, SB 262, SB 560, HB 6011 and HB 6039 all attempted to amend Section 768.21 before dying in judiciary.

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Here’s what to know about Florida’s “free kill” law.

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What is Florida’s ‘free kill’ law?

Florida’s “free kill” law is a provision in Section 768.21 in Florida Statutes that prohibits adult children and other surviving family from filing medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors or hospitals when the victim is 25 years old or older.

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Only surviving spouses and minor children can file medical malpractice claims under the current law. Florida is the only state whose wrongful death laws differentiate medical malpractice from other types of wrongful death.

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Here’s the provision’s text:

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(8) The damages specified in subsection (3) shall not be recoverable by adult children and the damages specified in subsection (4) shall not be recoverable by parents of an adult child with respect to claims for medical negligence as defined by s. 766.106(1).

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Section 768.21 (8), Florida Statutes

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What’s the history behind Florida’s ‘free kill’ law?

Florida’s “free kill” law was implemented in 1990. The original intent behind the law was to prevent doctors from leaving Florida as a result of high insurance costs.

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Why do critics want to end Florida’s ‘free kill’ law?

Critics say that the law violates equal protection and serves no real purpose by marginalizing the “standard of care” for certain demographics, including adults with disabilities, women who suffer from infertility and others.