Story by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal

March 26, 2025

Sean Harris with his mom and family. Sean died after he was hit by an SUV in 2017. His parents believe medical malpractice may also be to blame but say Florida’s ‘Free Kill’ Law prevented them from filing a lawsuit to understand what happened to him.
© Dawn Bybee

In May of 2017, Dawn Harris Bybee had a funeral for her 28-year-old son, Sean Harris, the day before he was supposed to get married.

Sean and a friend, Chris Surgner, had been celebrating at his bachelor party when they were hit by an SUV crossing Pine Forest Road. They were heading back from a store where they had gone to replace a ping pong paddle.

Bybee says video taken of the scene after the accident showed Escambia County paramedics failing to follow basic medical protocol when treating the young men, and she believes they died because of their negligence.

“When you watch the video, you see Shawn being lifted by his shoulders. They check for a carotid pulse and let him literally flop back down on the ground,” Bybee said. “And it’s worse with Chris.”

As a nurse and a mother, Bybee wanted to see Escambia EMS held accountable for the incident, as well as review and improve their training procedures.

However, she couldn’t pursue a lawsuit against Escambia County because of Florida’s so-called “Free Kill” law, which restricts who can sue for medical malpractice.

Sean was single and had no children when he died. Under Florida law, only a deceased person’s spouse and children under 25 can pursue claims for pain and suffering due to loss of life.

Florida is the only state in the country with this law on the books.

“We went to go see an attorney, and Sean’s dad said to him, ‘Sir, are you trying to tell me that I can’t take anybody to court because of medical negligence or malpractice because he’s 28 years old, he was unmarried, and he didn’t have any children?’” Bybee recalled. “My son’s life was valued differently.”

That would change if Florida legislators pass House Bill 6017, a repeal bill that would remove the provision restricting who can sue for medical malpractice.

The House of Representatives approved the bill on Wednesday. It will now go to the Senate. If passed, the legislation will take effect July 1.

Jackie and Tony Nichols want to see it pass. They lost their 28-year-old son, Aubrey, in 2014, who was also single and had no children.

The Pensacola musician was born with a heart defect that caused him to go into cardiac arrest.

Heartbroken, his parents never doubted what happened until they saw discrepancies in his medical records that they say revealed Escambia County emergency crews had tried several times to intubate Aubrey but mistakenly inserted a breathing tube into his esophagus instead of his trachea, a potentially life-threatening complication.

Aubrey’s parents, both in the medical field, say they understand he had a slim chance, but it was better than “no chance because of the intubation.”

Like Bybee, they wanted to see changes at EMS that would hold people accountable and potentially prevent future mistakes, but felt their concerns were dismissed.

“I feel like I was ignored because the people who needed to hear me knew that I have no recourse,” Jackie Nichols said. “They knew I can’t even bring a lawsuit. Money is what talks. Money for my son makes me nauseated. I would not want money for my son. I just wanted people to hear me and nobody wanted to hear. I think that’s what this law does is it stifles people who have the right to be heard.”

Some critics of the bill include medical, insurance and business organizations like the Florida Medical Association, Florida Justice Reform Institute and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

They’re urging legislators not to pass it, saying it will lead to more medical malpractice lawsuits and higher insurance costs.

Former state Rep. Joel Rudman of Navarre, who is also a physician, is among those who pushed back on that argument, telling legislators that as a doctor his medical malpractice premiums haven’t changed in a decade and insurance protection from lawsuits is not one of his top three overhead costs.

“The only doctors that want to see this statute remain in place are bad doctors and, unfortunately, we have a few of those in the state of Florida,” Rudman told a House committee considering the bill last week.

Bybee and the Nichols are hopeful at the progress the bill is making through the legislature.

“Here’s the wonderful thing that has come out of all of this,” Bybee said. “That no parent ever will have to ask whether their child’s life is valued differently than someone else’s.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pensacola-families-fight-to-change-florida-s-free-kill-law-here-s-why/ar-AA1BHU8l