Legal Pearls: Florida Leaves Physician-Friendly Malpractice Law in Effect

A 1990 Florida law prevents anyone over aged 25 years from suing physicians for pain and suffering claims in malpractice lawsuits over the death of an unmarried parent. The law also prevents parents of adult children from suing for non-economic wrongful death damages if the children were older than 25-years-old, even if they were unmarried and had no children of their own (surviving spouses and minor children are permitted by law to make such claims.) The law was enacted in 1990 to keep medical malpractice insurance rates down and keep doctors from fleeing the state.

What is the law today?

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Ann W. Latner, JD, is a freelance writer and attorney based in New York. She was formerly the director of periodicals at the American Pharmacists Association and editor of Pharmacy Times.