Tort bill clears its first House committee.

A measure that would limit non-economic damages --commonly referred to as pain and suffering--to $1 million in personal injury or wrongful-death cases passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee March 6.

"I believe in our judicial system, and I believe there is a place for the plaintiffs' bar," said bill sponsor Rep. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach. "But I think that we have gotten out of balance."

HB 17 passed after Leek promised to consider raising the cap amount.

Before the vote, Leek, a lawyer, announced that he was removing an entire section of the bill known as the "Rational Use of Product Act" that was designed to shield major manufacturers from product liability lawsuits.

Leek said he was scrubbing that section, drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, to "avoid any confusion" over Florida's ongoing law suit against major pharmaceutical manufacturers for their alleged role in the state's deadly opioid epidemic.

"We want to make sure that the attorney general still has the ability to pursue the opioid crisis lawsuit," Leek said.

Leek said the equivalent of 3.6 percent of Florida's GDP--or $4,432 for every household in Florida--is spent on personal injury claims, court costs, and compensation every year, figures critics disputed.

Rep. Anika Omphroy, a Broward County Democrat, reminded Leek that Gov. Ron DeSantis had just bragged about Florida's booming economy in his State of the State Address delivered only the previous day.

"Where is the crisis that led to this legislation?" Omphroy asked.

Palm Beach Gardens attorney Leslie Kroeger, president-elect of the Florida Justice Association, warned committee members that $1 million would be "paltry" compensation for one of her clients, a 7-year-old girl who was severely burned while wearing defective pajamas and faces a lifetime of disfigurement.

Capping jury awards would also put the Legislature on a dangerous path by introducing "a government valuation" on what a life is worth, Kroeger said.

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