Grazie Christie, a radiologist and member of the Florida State Board of Education, has expressed support for Governor Ron DeSantis' decision to veto a bill that would lift caps on emotional damages in malpractice suits. Christie said that tort reform benefits everyone by maintaining healthcare accessibility.
"Tort reform helps everyone," said Grazie Pozo Christie, M.D..
Governor Ron DeSantis announced his intention to veto HB 6017, which sought to repeal a longstanding Florida law that prevents adult children over 25 and parents from suing for pain and suffering in medical malpractice wrongful death cases. DeSantis argued that allowing such lawsuits could lead to "jackpot justice," akin to winning the lottery, and warned it would significantly increase malpractice insurance premiums. He acknowledged the victims' families' pain but emphasized the broader impacts on healthcare access and physician availability in Florida. The veto aims to preserve affordability and stability within the state's healthcare system.
States across the United States are crafting tort reform legislation to address what they perceive as legal system abuse, which has driven significant increases in insurance claim costs over the past decade. According to studies by the Insurance Information Institute (III) and the Casualty Actuarial Society, such abuse—fueled by plaintiff advertising, erosion of damage caps, fraudulent litigation, and third-party litigation funding—has added billions in liability and auto insurance costs. Florida's 2023 tort reforms are credited with stabilizing rates and attracting insurers back to the state. New legislation seeks further limits on inflated medical damages in lawsuits, with similar reforms underway in Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee.
According to an Institute for Legal Reform report, Florida's recent legal reforms aimed at curbing lawsuit abuse and claim fraud are showing early signs of success. Key laws have eliminated one-way attorney fees, prohibited assignment of benefits (AOB), limited misleading legal ads, and introduced modified comparative fault. These measures have contributed to a 35% drop in property insurance lawsuits and improved insurer loss ratios. The reforms have stabilized Florida's property insurance market and attracted billions in new capital. A bill targeting third-party litigation funding is continuing this momentum. Reversing these reforms could jeopardize market gains; thus, Florida's success serves as a national model for legal reform protecting consumers while controlling insurance costs.
A new poll conducted by Cherry Communications for the Florida Chamber of Commerce shows Governor Ron DeSantis with a 54% approval rating compared to President Donald Trump's 51%. Nearly half of Floridians believe the state is headed in the right direction; however, views on the country are evenly split at 48% each for right direction or wrong track. The poll also indicates strong public support for Florida's 2023 tort reform laws: only 15% believe they went too far while a plurality favors stricter measures against lawsuit abuse. Conducted from May 2–10 among 605 likely voters with a margin of error of four percentage points, these results underscore continued voter alignment with DeSantis’ reform agenda on legal and economic issues.
Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie is based in Miami as both a radiologist and member of the Florida Board of Education since her appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022. She is also recognized as a senior fellow at The Catholic Association and former host of Conversations with Consequences—a nationally syndicated radio show—and writes extensively on topics including Catholicism, religious freedom health policy impacting Latino families through major outlets like The New York Times USA Today FoxNews.com National Review appearing frequently across networks CNN Fox News Telemundo EWTN Born Miami raised Guadalajara Mexico returned US age eleven earning degrees Columbia University University Miami School Medicine resides Miami husband five children