After their 23-year-old daughter Emily died of a blood clot following an ankle fracture, Janet and Doug Adkins channeled their grief into advocacy.
The result is the Emily Adkins Prevention Act, a groundbreaking measure passed Wednesday, May 3 by the Florida Legislature. It greenlights the creation of a policy workgroup that will examine how blood clots and pulmonary emboli affect the lives of Floridians.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose sister died of a blood clot in 2015, is expected to sign it into law.
No other such measure exists in the U.S. At a press conference after the bill was passed, Leslie Lake, volunteer president of the National Blood Clot Alliance, said that Florida’s action will serve as a model for other states.
“This is a momentous and huge step forward to protecting and saving so many lives,” she said. “With this bill as a base, we will now have the tools to stop this national health crisis.”
The goals of the workgroup will be to consider recommendations around standards of care guidelines for blood clot patients and determine how many Florida residents are affected by blood clots.
It would also identify how data is collected, identify emerging treatments and therapies, and develop a recommendation for risk surveillance systems.
Rep. Dean Black, who sponsored the bill in the house, said this bipartisan measure will make a difference in Florida and beyond.
“We will save thousands and thousands and thousands of lives and it will echo across the country and across the world,” Rep. Dean Black said. “No one is doing this, and it starts here.”
The workgroup will issue its final report on Jan. 4, 2025 – Emily Adkins’ 25th birthday.
