Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 442
       
       
        
       By Senator Book
       
       
       
       
       
       35-00970-24                                            2024442__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to damages recoverable in wrongful
    3         death actions; providing a short title; amending ss.
    4         400.023, 400.0235, and 429.295, F.S.; conforming
    5         provisions to changes made by the act; amending s.
    6         768.21, F.S.; removing a provision that prohibits
    7         adult children and parents of adult children from
    8         recovering certain damages in medical negligence
    9         suits; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Keith Davis Family
   14  Protection Act.”
   15         Section 2. Subsection (9) of section 400.023, Florida
   16  Statutes, is amended to read:
   17         400.023 Civil enforcement.—
   18         (9) An action under this part for a violation of rights or
   19  negligence recognized herein is not a claim for medical
   20  malpractice, and s. 768.21(8) does not apply to a claim alleging
   21  death of the resident.
   22         Section 3. Section 400.0235, Florida Statutes, is amended
   23  to read:
   24         400.0235 Certain provisions not applicable to actions under
   25  this part.—An action under this part for a violation of rights
   26  or negligence recognized under this part is not a claim for
   27  medical malpractice, and the provisions of s. 768.21(8) do not
   28  apply to a claim alleging death of the resident.
   29         Section 4. Section 429.295, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   30  read:
   31         429.295 Certain provisions not applicable to actions under
   32  this part.—An action under this part for a violation of rights
   33  or negligence recognized herein is not a claim for medical
   34  malpractice, and the provisions of s. 768.21(8) do not apply to
   35  a claim alleging death of the resident.
   36         Section 5. Subsection (8) of section 768.21, Florida
   37  Statutes, is amended, and subsections (3) and (4) of that
   38  section are republished, to read:
   39         768.21 Damages.—All potential beneficiaries of a recovery
   40  for wrongful death, including the decedent’s estate, shall be
   41  identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the
   42  decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows:
   43         (3) Minor children of the decedent, and all children of the
   44  decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may also recover for
   45  lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for
   46  mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. For the
   47  purposes of this subsection, if both spouses die within 30 days
   48  of one another as a result of the same wrongful act or series of
   49  acts arising out of the same incident, each spouse is considered
   50  to have been predeceased by the other.
   51         (4) Each parent of a deceased minor child may also recover
   52  for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Each
   53  parent of an adult child may also recover for mental pain and
   54  suffering if there are no other survivors.
   55         (8) The damages specified in subsection (3) shall not be
   56  recoverable by adult children and the damages specified in
   57  subsection (4) shall not be recoverable by parents of an adult
   58  child with respect to claims for medical negligence as defined
   59  by s. 766.106(1).
   60         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.