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New estimates suggest Florida could see widespread effects from H.R. 1 — the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — as changes to Medicaid and SNAP ripple through the state’s most economically vulnerable congressional districts.

July 8, 2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed HB 1421, which mandates that all Florida hospitals with emergency departments and ambulatory surgical centers develop and implement protocols for asserting VTE risk using nationally recognized tools.

April 28, 2025

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.

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Blood clots are responsible for killing more people in America every year than car crashes, AIDS and breast cancer combined.

House Bill 1421 was filed in the Florida Legislature to make Florida the leading state in the country in the fight against blood clots. The bill was written in memory of a young woman from Fernandina Beach.

Emily Adkins was full of life and beginning her career as a young woman shortly removed from graduating college. At just 23 years old she died from complications from a blood clot after fracturing her ankle. Her parents don't want that fate to fall on any other family.

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Emily Adkins never had a chance.  That’s what her father Doug Adkins said when he spoke Oct. 16 at the Board of County Commissioners meeting following the proclamation of Emily Adkins Blood Clot…

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Emily’s Promise, a family foundation committed to preventing blood clots and raising awareness of the life-threatening dangers they pose, hailed the long-awaited first meeting of Florida’s Blood Clot Policy Workgroup as an important step toward addressing the issue of preventable blood clot deaths in the state. 

The ‘Let’s Talk Clots’ app will be advertised on discharge paperwork for patients hospitalised with thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism (VTE). 

Our daughter Emily Adkins tragically lost her life at age 23 to a pulmonary embolism stemming from a fractured ankle. We now know that Emily’s death could have been prevented if we had understood her blood clot risk factors and initiated a conversation with her doctor. 

Emily Adkins was just 23 years old when she passed away on Oct. 21, 2022, from a blood clot stemming from an ankle fracture.

To honor the Fernandina Beach native’s memory and to help raise awareness of the danger of blood clots, several North Florida government boards have joined with Emily’s Promise to promote a new awareness effort.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Emily’s Promise, a family foundation committed to preventing blood clots and raising awareness of the life-threatening dangers they pose, today announced that this October 2023 will call upon all local government boards, councils, commissions, and agencies to help raise awareness of blood clots by proclaiming October Emily Adkins Blood Clot

Awareness Month.

10/18/23 @ 3:30 a.m. - At today's meeting, the Board of County Commissioners approved Proclamation 2023-002 declaring the month of October 2023 as "Emily Adkins Blood Clot Awareness Month". The Proclamation was requested by the family of the late Emily Adkins, a young lady who lost her life to a blood clot in October 2022 at the age of 23. She is the daughter of residents Doug Adkins and Janet Adkins (Nassau County Supervisor of Elections). 

Emily’s Promise is backing U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester’s Charles Rochester Blood Clot Prevention and Treatment Act, named for her late husband who died at age 52 from multiple blood clots that developed after an Achilles tendon tear.

Aug 13, 2023, ABC News

Emily Adkins was only 23 years old when she died as a result of a blood clot. Her family made it their mission to make sure other people don't suffer a similar fate.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Senior Living Association has announced that the inaugural recipient of The Emily Adkins Bright Star Award is Marshall Legard, who serves as Executive Director at the Grand Villa of Altamonte Springs assisted living facility. The award is given to recognize a young professional within the Florida assisted living industry who is passionate about their work and competent beyond their years.

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla — 23-year-old Emily Adkins was just starting out in life. She recently bought a home, and she was putting her health administration degree to work at Dayspring Senior Living in Hilliard.

“She had a radiant smile,” Doug Adkins said about his daughter. “Emily was incredibly fun and a happy person. Probably most important—she was her mom’s best friend.”

'Lay people don’t know about this problem.'

A study group aimed at preventing death caused by blood clots will meet in the coming weeks.

SB 612, the Emily Adkins Blood Clot Prevention Act, passed the House with unanimous support. The measure authorizes a volunteer work group to study a silent killer rated the second leading cause of sudden unexpected death.

As Janet and Doug Adkins live with the unimaginable loss of their daughter, Emily, they are working through their grief by creating something positive – the hope that they can prevent other families from suffering a similar loss.

Emily Adkins died last October of a blood clot, which is a treatable condition that went undetected. After gall bladder surgery in August, she fell and broke her ankle in September. In October, she had her ankle cast removed, given a “boot” and told to exercise. She was readying to leave her parents’ home in Fernandina Beach, where she had been staying during her recovery, to her new home in Yulee, where she had just fenced in the back yard in preparation for getting a dog.

A study group aimed at preventing death caused by blood clots will meet in the coming weeks.

SB 612, the Emily Adkins Blood Clot Prevention Act, passed the House with unanimous support. The measure authorizes a volunteer work group to study a silent killer rated the second leading cause of sudden unexpected death.

The Senate approved the bill unanimously last week.

On April 27, the Florida Senate voted 39-0 to approve SB-612, known as the Emily Adkins Prevention Act. This is the first-ever measure by a state to assess the incidence of blood clots, and it garnered bipartisan support.

The brand-new house in the small subdivision bursts with promise and plans, knickknacks denoting milestones met and one color blending seamlessly with the next. Emily Adkins was like that. At 23, her major decisions revolved around how many of her dreams she could cram into the decades ahead, not so much what they were.

Start at 5:26 - https://flsenate.gov/media/videoplayer?EventID=1_zc8d1g0v-202304200930&Redirect=true

A Critical Look at Understanding the Emotional Suffering of Blood Clot Survivors

Calling all blood clot survivors, we have heard you!

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – A bill filed would establish a policy workgroup to understand how blood clots and pulmonary embolisms are affecting the lives of Floridians.

The funding rewards public postsecondary nursing programs that have gone above and beyond to train Floridians and provides matching funds for scholarship awards, faculty recruitment, equipment and additional educational supports.