Today marks a major milestone in blood clot awareness and prevention efforts: The Florida House and Senate have officially passed the Emily Adkins Family Protection Act, aimed at improving how blood clots are recognized, treated, and tracked across the state.
This legislation – a first in the US – aims to save lives through better blood clot awareness, prevention, and care.
By collecting critical data on the incidence and impact of blood clots, Florida will be better equipped to identify risk factors, track trends, and drive public awareness campaigns to save lives.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the measure into law by June 30.
The National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) applauds Florida’s leadership in advancing this vital legislation and honors the advocacy work of the Adkins family and all those who made this achievement possible.
The Emily Adkins Family Protection Act can serve as a model for other states, said Leslie Lake, volunteer president of the National Blood Clot Alliance.
“Today, with the passing of this historic legislation, we move one step forward to protecting not only Floridians from blood clots but everyone in this country,” Lake said.
“This bill will allow us to know exactly how many people are getting and dying from blood clots and allow us as a society to put the policies in place to prevent and treat blood clots. The days of guessing are over and will be replaced with real data.”
This legislation requires hospitals and surgical centers to implement blood clot screening policies and staff training; creates a statewide blood clot registry; ensures that assisted living staff receive training on the signs and symptoms of blood clots; and ensures that assisted living residents receive information about clot risks.
The passage of this bill represents an important step toward recognizing the serious public health threat posed by venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).
Blood clots are responsible for an estimated 100,000 deaths each year in the United States — many of which are preventable with early detection and intervention.
The measure is named for Emily Adkins, a Florida woman who died of a pulmonary embolism in 2022 at age 23 following an ankle fracture. Her mother, Janet, a former member of the Florida Legislature, and her father, Doug, channeled their grief into advocacy. They championed the bill as it moved through the state house and senate, a process that took more than two years.
Rep. Dean Black introduced the Emily Adkins Prevention Act (House Bill 483) in early 2023. It was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Clay Yarborough as Senate Bill 612. The legislation aimed to establish a policy workgroup to understand the impact of blood clots and pulmonary emboli on Floridians.
The workgroup included medical and public health experts and as well as blood clot patients and family members of people who have died from blood clots. Their final report was issued in December 2024, and the findings guided the creation of the Emily Adkins Family Protection Act.
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