Articles Posted in Cruise Medical Malpractice

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The wife of a man who died during a surgery where his doctor removed his liver instead of his spleen is planning to sue, according to reporting from local news outlets. 

The incident began when the man complained of feeling pain in his side while he and his wife visited their Florida rental property from Alabama. At the hospital, the man was allegedly planning to return to Alabama to see his usual doctor but was instead persuaded by a medical team in Florida to go ahead with the surgery, according to the family’s attorneys. Doctors are said to have “persuaded” him by explaining the potential risks that could arise if he delayed surgery. 

A surgical pathology report listed the organ that was removed as a “grossly identifiable” liver that was partly torn. When removing the liver, the doctor tore blood vessels that caused “catastrophic blood loss resulting in death,” the wife’s attorneys said in a statement to local news outlets.

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Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas continues to make headlines months after its inaugural sail and people are still talking about the enormity of it. 

Though the ship has been sailing since the beginning of the year, a recent video featuring its arrival in Port Miami has gained traction online with many users asking “how does this thing manage to float?” 

The answer can be found in most grade school science classrooms – buoyancy. When a massive ship such as the Icon of the Seas is hulking past seemingly without effort, it is because it is pushing aside water, displacing enough to equal its weight. Structural designs such as a U-shaped hull help the ship carve through the waves and displace water. The hull’s round edges reduce potential drag and keep the ship from rolling. When building the immense ‘floating cities’ we know as cruises today, engineers must take weight distribution into account. Ships that are bottom-heavy will sink while the opposite would cause the ship to be destabilized, increasing the probability it would topple over. 

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A Tampa doctor is under scrutiny and faces formal review from the Florida Department of Health after a patient who went to him for a cough and sore throat ended up in a 42-day coma. 

The initial doctor’s visit happened in 2019 when the 75-year-old man said he had body aches, a cough and a sore throat. He returned 10 days later with “complaints of a deep cough” and “chest pains,” according to reporting from The Miami Herald. A complaint filed by the Florida Department of Health states that the doctor at the center of the incident did not examine the patient but prescribed prednisone, an Albuterol inhaler and Tramadol. 

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the patient claims the doctor was not in the office that day and prescribed these medicines based on what he was told by an employee at the medical center. The patient returned a day later, complaining of increased chest pain. When he went to the hospital, two weeks after the first doctor’s visit, it was determined he had pneumonia and was in septic shock. 

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Disney Cruise Line announced plans for a new ship this week set to take sail in 2025. 

Disney’s Destiny Cruise Ship will sail four and five-night voyages from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas and the Western Caribbean starting in November 2025. The ship is reportedly a merging of the stories of villains and heroes alike from Disney, Pixar and Marvel’s most-beloved stories. The ship will have three restaurants, themed “splash zones” and live shows with character meet-and-greets. 

This comes just two weeks after Carnival Cruise Lines announced the addition of three more ships to its fleet with the carrying capacity to rival that of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas which is reportedly the largest cruise ship in operation today. The cruise ship industry is rapidly expanding after taking a major hit following the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the industry shut down to stop the spread of the virus. According to data based on research from J.P. Morgan, by 2028, the cruise ship industry will capture approximately 3.8% of the $1.9 trillion global vacation market. Globally, 35.7 million passengers are expected to set sail in 2024. This is a 6% increase from pre-COVID-19 numbers. 

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Cruise ships at Port Miami will be able to plug into the county’s power grid – a move that officials say will boost the local economy by attracting more cruise lines to the area while cutting down on pollution.

There’s just one problem. More ships means an increase in the possibility of cruise ship injuries, a practice area that Leesfield & Partners knows all too well. 

The decision was spurred by sustainability efforts from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava who told reporters in an article published in The Miami Herald that the project would bring the county that much closer to cutting down on its carbon emissions. 

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Basking in the sun or heading to a cholesterol-raising buffet for the fourth time in a single morning, no one thinks about the dangers aboard cruise ships. Statistics show, however, that cruises are riddled with all kinds of hazards. From sexual assaults to falls resulting in broken bones or requiring surgery, Leesfield & Partners has represented just about every injury aboard these massive holiday vessels. 

When stories are spread in the media about cruise medical care and its often devastating consequences, Leesfield & Partners attorneys know that it is unfortunately not all that uncommon. Some people simply do not receive the care they require while others are left to suffer from illnesses or injuries because a cruise doctor refuses to evacuate them. In some cases, cruise ships will abandon a sick passenger in a foreign country to continue on its journey with the other passengers. This is much like the case of an elderly passenger represented by the law firm who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. This type of stroke, according to the National Institute of Health, is a bleeding in the brain caused by a ruptured blood vessel. The passenger was able to disembark from the ship in the Bahamas for emergency transfer back to Broward County, Florida. The cruise line never verified that the airport would be open and the woman was left to wait at the closed airport where she died waiting to be transferred.  

Fortunately for a grandmother heading to the Bahamas on a Carnival Cruise Ship, the outcome was very different. 

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While packing sunscreen or researching potential sights to see, no one expects that their long-awaited cruise vacation might end in tragedy. However, in its decades of practice, Leesfield & Partners has seen all too well just how easily these trips can take a turn for the worse. 

Whether it be crashes on excursion buses, slipping on decks void of regulation handrails or an on-board medical professional refusing to evacuate a guest, Leesfield & Partners has seen families through it all. These tragic injuries have changed the lives of cruise ship guests, employees, and their loved ones, forever marring what should have been a beautiful memory of a relaxing getaway or just another day at work. 

In 2023, approximately 7.3 million people went through Port Miami on their way to their cruises.

In 2023, approximately 7.3 million people went through Port Miami on their way to their cruises.

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Ilija Loncar, a crewmember on a cruise ship, was feeling ill and reported to the ship’s doctor mid-voyage. Already feeling nauseous, Ilija threw up in front of the nurse. In response, the ship’s doctor ordered the maximum allowable dose of 25 mg Promethazine by intraveinous injection instead of the manufacturer recommended deep Intramuscular route.

Promethazine hydrochloride is a highly toxic caustic drug – The FDA requires the drug’s manufacturer to include a “black box” on the drug’s labels to warn medical providers about the risk of severe tissue damage if the drug is not administered correctly:

BLACK BOX WARNING:

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Miami attorneys Ira H. Leesfield and Thomas Scolaro represent the family of Phoebe Moon who at 9-months old lost both her feet and half of her fingers due to the indefensible medical negligence of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) ship board physicians. Phoebe is now a triple amputee forced to live her life with unimaginable handicaps, limitations and mental trauma reserved for the most damaged in society.

A complaint was filed today against the Miami-headquartered cruise line on behalf of Phoebe and her parents, Aime and Luke Moon, whose nightmare began on the Symphony of the Seas on February 24th. At 8:30 a.m. that morning they took Phoebe to the ship’s infirmary in a panic. Phoebe was pale, lethargic, feverish, tachycardic, dehydrated, and had been vomiting intermittently. Phoebe needed immediate medical attention for exhibiting clear and classic signs of meningococcal meningitis infection.

Dr. Kalander, RCCL’s physician, ignored the marked lethargy and most other symptoms exhibited by the baby. Phoebe was mis-diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis. Phoebe and her parents were told to go back to their room as part of an isolation protocol for the gastroenteritis.

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