BRANDON, Fla. (WFLA) — A group of Bay Area residents held the first of several planned protests to create momentum for changing Florida’s unique and controversial wrongful death law.
About a dozen people, holding signs with images of deceased loved ones, gathered in front of Brandon Regional Hospital to bring awareness to their frustration over lawsuit restrictions in the 32-year-old Wrongful Death Act.
Protest organizer Sabrina Davis said participants share a desire for “their day in court.”
“It’s incredibly painful to know who did it and where they work,” Davis said. “And what they’re doing and not be able to pursue accountability.”
Her father Keith Davis died at Brandon Regional nearly two years ago — about three days after sending her a video that showed her a severely swollen leg.
The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) found there was probable cause to believe Dr. Rathinam Krishnamoorthy committed medical malpractice when he failed to diagnose what an autopsy determined was a 9-inch blood clot in Davis’s leg.
Neither the hospital nor Krishnamoorthy have commented about the specifics of Davis’s case.
According to the FDOH, Krishnamoorthy initially requested a hearing.
“Later, the department was able to reach a settlement agreement and the case is pending being placed on a future board agenda,” an FDOH email stated.
Davis could not take her claims to court since the Wrongful Death Act blocks anyone 25 or older from suing in medical negligence cases involving widowed parents. The law also restricts parents from filing medical negligence lawsuits in cases involving the death of children 25 or older.
Bills to change the law stalled in the state senate earlier this year when they were blocked from getting to the floor for a vote by Zephryhills Senator Danny Burgess.
Burgess said he wants to better tailor the bill to avoid an avalanche of lawsuits.
“That [law] would have absolutely opened up a potential Pandora’s box to litigation,” Burgess said.
Davis said the protests will continue until the law changes.
“They may have lost a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a sibling,” Davis said. “And we all come together and share awareness and fight to get this law changed.”
“They took a lot from me. They took a lot from my son. They took a lot from our life. And we trusted them. We believed them. And they failed us.”