Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation aimed at pausing the removal of children from their families in cases where alleged abuse may instead stem from a medical misdiagnosis, Florida Politics reported. The measure builds on a reform effort long championed by Sen. Barbara Sharief — widely known as “Patterson’s Law” — which seeks to give parents the right to a second medical opinion before their children are removed over disputed abuse findings.
Supporters say the change is designed to protect families from wrongful separations caused by rare medical conditions being mistaken for abuse, while still safeguarding children who are genuinely at risk. For Sharief, a nurse of more than three decades, the signing marks a milestone in a multi-year push to bring more medical scrutiny to questionable child-abuse investigations in Florida.
