Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
Over a hundred passengers and dozens of crew members across three cruise ships reported symptoms of norovirus as health officials warned of new strain.
Officials with the Centers for Disease Control have warned about a “newly dominant strain” of norovirus, which they said could be driving the uptick in recent cases seen on land and on cruise ships. This comes after significant cuts to the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program’s (VSP) workforce last month. These employees were tasked with investigating outbreaks and conducting routine health inspections on cruise ships before their dismissals, which were a part of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to issue layoffs to public health agency employees.
Following these cuts, CDC officials called the move “frustrating” and has exacerbated the already taxing issue of being short-staffed. When the news first broke of the layoffs, the agency was already in the middle of responding to two outbreaks.
The most recent outbreaks occurred on
Last year, 18 cruise ship outbreaks were reported to the CDC, the most outbreaks in a single year since at least 2012, according to previous reporting. The numbers for 2025 show that norovirus cases involving passengers and crew are “likely to exceed last year’s figures,” reporters claimed in reporting from The Independent.
The reason gastrointestinal illnesses such as norovirus are so difficult to control on cruise ships, CDC officials with the VSP said, is because of the close living quarters, shared dining areas and rapid turnover of passengers from one voyage to the next.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a firm with over 48 years of experience representing the victims of cruise ship incidents. Our skilled attorneys have handled everything from excruciating slip and fall cases to shocking medical negligence at the hands of inept cruise ship doctors. In the latter, our attorneys have obtained over $20 million for cruise passengers who were further injured by the errors, lack of knowledge and bad judgement of the medical staff on board ships meant to help them.
As common carriers, these cruise ships have an irrefutable duty of care to ensure the safety of all passengers, and that includes having adequately trained medical staff to deal with injuries and illnesses on board. However, because these ships sail in foreign waters, U.S. medical-licensing standards don’t always apply. Cruise lines are only required to have a “qualified medical practitioner” on board, meaning that these individual’s qualifications van vary and may not meet U.S. standards on land. While the CDC’s VSP inspects these vessels twice a year, they are looking at hygiene and outbreak control, not individual physician credentials. As a result, ships can be staffed with medical professionals whose training may fall short of U.S. standards, potentially to the detriment of sick or injured passengers.
One Leesfield & Partners client who experienced these consequences firsthand was a member of the crew who went to the infirmary for symptoms of nausea. Instead, he was erroneously given medication rapidly into his IV that clearly state in a black box warning label it should be given slowly injected deep into the muscle over a period of time. If these instructions were not adhered to, the label warned, there was an increased risk for gangrene, tissue injury, and/or amputation.
Tragically in this case, our client was in immediate agony. This was the start of a 17-hour journey in which his right arm would begin to blacken, the tissue dying slowly as cruise ship doctors searched online for ways to help. Eventually, he was able to seek medical attention on shore where doctors attempted to save his arm. They could not.
In the end, our client lost his right arm due to the errors of the doctors aboard the cruise ship. Our client was awarded over $3.3 million in arbitration thanks to the work of attorneys at Leesfield & Partners.
Sadly, this is far from an isolated incident. Our skilled attorneys have represented countless clients who were let down by the very professionals entrusted with their care. From misdiagnoses and delayed evacuations to outright breaches of the standard of care, we fight tirelessly to hold negligent cruise line doctors accountable — and to secure the best possible outcome in every case.
Previous Medical Malpractice Cases
Previously, the firm represented a 9-month-old whose meningococcal meningitis was misdiagnosed by a stomach bug. As a result of this error, the infant underwent multiple amputations. Leesfield & Partners secured an over $5.5 million award for the family in that case.
A retired nurse who suffered a horrific accident aboard a ship required a life-saving blood transfusion. As the result of cruise medical staff negligently failing to test the blood they administered to the woman, she was diagnosed with HIV. The firm settled the case for $4.25 million.
In addition to errors made while treating patients, Leesfield & Partners has seen doctors delay or deny evacuations for patients who were in the middle of medical emergencies. These delays can occur for a myriad of reasons, however, for our clients, these decisions were made to protect the ship’s schedule and bottom line. As a result, medical situations were exacerbated, leading to further injury and death.
One family who was represented by Leesfield & Partners went on a cruise to mark a milestone anniversary. Instead of a fun-filled family vacation, our clients suffered a tremendous loss that began with their patriarch suffering a heart attack while the ship was still in port. He was denied evacuation and the ship left for its destination, and he later died.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar recovery in that case.
A teenager who suffered a stroke on a ship was written off for her age, despite the obvious symptoms. The case was later settled for $3 million.
In another case, the firm secured $1.5 million for a person having a stroke while on a cruise ship.
