More families speak out about a controversial law they say does not hold hospitals accountable

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — More families are coming forward shedding light on a controversial law that prevents some people from seeking justice in cases of medical malpractice.

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9 investigates has been looking into  Florida’s so-called “free kill law” for more than a year.

It limits who can sue in a medical malpractice case.

The most recent effort to change the law would have removed language that prohibited adult children and parents of an adult child from seeking damages in medical negligence suits, but the bill never made it out of committee, even with initial bipartisan support, but that doesn’t mean families are giving up.

Lauren Korniyenko and Darcy McGuill’s mom fell and broke her hip in August of 2023; they assumed she would spend a couple of days after and head home for rehab and recovery.

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But two days after surgery, they got a call that she died.

There was no indication that there was anything wrong.

Lauren tells us, “We’re there just trying to kind of wrap our head around how did we go from me leaving the night before at 9, 9:00 everything is fine to she’s now dead. What happened.”

But they said when they got to the hospital, they immediately knew something wasn’t right.

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They said answers were hard to come by, so they decided to get their own autopsy done, hoping it would provide the answers they said they were not getting from hospital staff.

That autopsy, they say, showed Lynn contracted an infection and eventually went into septic shock and, in the end,  hemorrhaged and died.

Then, they started to question everything that happened.

They say they called lawyer after lawyer but were told that while they appeared to have a case, the Florida “free kill” law meant that they would never be able to hold anyone responsible for her death.

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Darcy said, “It was a shock to us, and furthermore, it was a shock when we realized that it just doesn’t affect people like my mom who are older; it also affects people like me. I fall under the category of a potential free kill  because I am unmarried with children.”

This law can potentially affect many, many people. That’s why they are speaking out.

They say someone has to change this law so another family doesn’t have to go through what they are.

Lauren said, “When families like ours are denied access to the judicial system based purely on the victim in the families age and marital status or family status. It makes everything less safe because there are no consequences, no consequences, so there is no incentive to change.”

The sisters have filed complaints with several state and local agencies, and some of the investigations are pending. As for the hospital, we reached out but have not heard back.

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