What if you were to be injured in a serious fall, and when you arrive at the hospital, the care you receive is so poor that you slip into a coma and, later, you pass away from your injuries? Your loved ones would pursue every legal action at their disposal to hold the medical staff and medical institution responsible for your unfortunate death.
But now imagine if this exact scenario happened while a person was on a cruise ship. Yes, those huge cruise ships have medical facilities, doctors and nurses on board. However, the care may not be quite up to many people’s standards and, worse yet, for many years the cruise line industry was basically shielded from liability if a medical error or poor medical occurred on their ship.
Thankfully, that is no longer the case. The scenario we presented in the first paragraph mirrors what happened to a man on a cruise ship while at port in Bermuda. After he died, his family sued Royal Caribbean — the cruise liner responsible for the ship he was on — but their claim was dismissed because of the legal protections cruise liners had in cases like these.
An appellate court recently changed this rule, opening up the possibility for passengers or families of passengers to seek medical malpractice claims against the cruise liner when medical negligence or sub-par medical care affects them or their loved ones. This is a major step in the right direction, clearing the way for people to seek the justice they deserve.
Source: Huffington Post, “Suing Cruise Ship Doctors for Medical Malpractice,” Spencer Aronfeld, Nov. 25, 2014
