charlie crist, how do i go about changing a law about sueing doctors for wrongful death in the state of Florid

Question

I lost my daughter do the wrong doing of an emergency doctor. He did not do tests that would have saved her life. Instead she died 3 days after he saw her. This is wrong and because she had no husband or children, as her mother, I can not sue for wrongful death. How can this law be changed?

Answer 1

I feel for you losing your daughter. What you are proposing will not be easy.

To change the law, you will need to get in touch with your representative to the Florida legislature. See what he can do. If he is unwilling to do anything, then you will have to bring it up for a vote before the people.

You will have a long hard fight on your hands. There will be many people with lots of money working against you on a battle like this. Insurance companies for sure won't like it. Doctors won't like it. Many others won't like it because it will cause the price of malpractice insurance to go up.

You will have to check the specific laws in Florida for doing this. In my state, you have to register a petition with the state. The you would have to circulate that petition and gets several thousand signatures of registered Florida voters before they will put it on a ballot. When you get those signatures, you will have to get close to double or more of the actual number of signatures that you need. The reason is because all those signatures have to be verified.

Find someone experienced with writing laws to be put on a ballot to make sure you have the wording right, otherwise it could be thrown out after the election based on wording.

If it does pass, plan on it being challenged in court for a while before it can actually go into effect. after it does go into effect, it will still be challenged.

If you are up to doing all that, good luck.

Answer 2

First off, I'm sorry hear your daughter died. According to you, Florida law will not let you seek retribution in this scenario. It is up to you to talk to your local representative. Try writing a letter or rally up support. Stay strong and persistant. It may be a long journey for your idea to become a law. If the process is the same in your state as it is in mine, which I'm sure it is, it will first have to be voted on as a council. If it makes it past the first step it will be voted on by representatives and then the senate. The governor will then have the chance to sign the bill to become a law. I hope all goes well from here. Good Luck.

Answer 3

Well, start with talking with your state senator or congressman. Let them know your case. Also, I would highly recommend taking a state government course at a local college. You would be amazed at the stuff that you can use in there. I remember something about using primaries to get laws changed, but that was for a course in Texas. I do not know if it applies to you.

In any event, you will not be able to sue for wrongful death even if they change the law. Retro-active changes to laws are not legal. You can change it so that future families don't have to be limited in this area though.

Answer 4

Are you sure about this law? I've never heard of a state denying the parent(s) the right to sue for wrongful death of a child, unless she was of majority age. In that case, I don't know of a state that allows a parent to sue. It does sound like an unfair law, but there are sound reasons for not being able to sue for the death of an adult child.