Articles Tagged with “medical malpractice”

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Authorities have recovered the body of a missing cruise passenger after she went missing on a hike last week in Juneau, according to media reporting.

The body of Marites Buenafe, 62, of Kentucky, was found Thursday by an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter crew below the ridge line of the Gold Ridge Trail. Buenafe, a doctor with UK Healthcare, a series of hospitals and clinics with the University of Kentucky, was reported missing to the Juneau Police Department on July 1 by family members. Her family told authorities that she had gone for a hike that morning and planned to take a tram part of the way up a mountain before walking to Gastineau Peak and Gold Ridge.

She did not return to the cruise ship that was docked in Juneau by its departure time.

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When asked to name the germiest surfaces on cruise ships, one might think about commonly touched areas such as doorknobs, stair railings or elevator buttons.

While these places have been known to transfer illness-causing germs such as norovirus — as the CDC warned earlier this year — a microbiologist has revealed a far more surprising source of contamination.

Microbiologist Jason Tetro told the Reader’s Digest that private hot tubs on ships are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. In October 2024, these private hot tubs on the balconies of guests were linked to multiple outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease on cruise ships. These outbreaks were linked back to two cruise ships on different cruise lines.

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A couple who told reporters with ABC News that they dreamed of traveling the world on their catamaran tell the shocking story of how they were saved by a cruise ship along their journey.

Helena Franczak and Dustin Leonard, two crew members and their three dogs were on the catamaran when it was damaged at sea in the South Pacific. The couple was heading to Fiji when the weather took a turn for the worst, taking the vessel’s mast and leaving them stranded over 170 nautical miles from New Caledonia, a French territory made up of dozens of islands in the South Pacific.

While stranded, they noticed a cruise ship in the distance and shot off a flare to get the attention of the ship’s crew. The daring rescue took extreme caution and skill as “it takes a little mistake … and you may sink them,”  the ship’s captain told reporters.

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For many vacationers, once the unmistakable combination of sun and salty breeze hit their skin, the worries of being on shore recedes into the background.

While cruise ships can certainly be an enjoyable getaway, however, it is important to note that passengers can fall prey to many of the same dangers that await them on shore. In 48 years of personal injury practice, Leesfield & Partners has represented clients who were victims of just that.

From an improperly maintained balcony railing that resulted in the death of a young girl to horrific jet ski crashes with long-lasting consequences, our firm has represented clients injured in just about every way imaginable on board a cruise ship. With these injuries, come unaccounted for expenses such as was the case for a crew member who went to the infirmary with

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A norovirus outbreak on a cruise ship docked at Port Everglades on Friday left at least 169 people ill, according to reporting from local media.

Holland America Line’s Rotterdam ship was headed to the Caribbean, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica over a 12-day voyage when it reported the outbreak of norovirus, which causes gastrointestinal illness, to the Centers for Disease Control. There were over 2,600 passengers on board with more than 900 crew. At least 152 passengers and 17 crew members reported being ill during the voyage. Common symptoms of norovirus are vomiting and diarrhea but can also include headaches, muscle pain, cramps and fever.

Holland America officials reported that their crew increased cleaning and disinfection procedures and isolated the infected to mitigate the spread.

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Whether injuries take the form of slip and falls on the pool deck or refusal to evacuate amid a medical emergency, Leesfield & Partners is here to help you navigate the waters of cruise line personal injury cases.

Every year, thousands of cruise ship passengers are injured aboard ships for a wide array of reasons. And, every year, thousands of these passengers file personal injury claims against these cruise lines. Most of these claims fall under premises liability, where a cruise line fails to maintain a safe environment for passengers on its ship. However, Leesfield & Partners has extensive experience in this area of personal injury law and has encountered nearly every type of case imaginable. To date, the firm has secured over $40 million for cruise ship passengers injured due to that corporation’s negligence.

Shore Excursion

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The latest data suggests that cruise ships that sailed in 2024 brought in $2.6 billion in annual tourism revenue to Nassau, Bahamas while bringing in the most annual visitors to date.

Tourism is a crucial factor in the country’s economy and accounts for approximately 60% of the country’s gross domestic product. About half of the Bahamian workforce is employed by the tourism industry.

In 2023, the country had a record-breaking year with over 4.4 million visitors. Before that, the record was 3.2 million visitors in 2022. In 2024, the cruise industry brough about 5.6 million visitors, according to port officials.

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Hundreds of passengers and crew were reported among the sick in at least five separate outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness in December, according to reporting from The Washington Post.

Just last month alone, 781 passengers and 109 crew reported symptoms of the highly contagious norovirus. Such symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting. In 2024, the cruise ship industry reported at least 16 stomach illness outbreaks on ships. This is the highest number of outbreaks since 2012, according to numbers reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the main cause of these outbreaks has been norovirus, other causes that have been identified include E. coli and salmonella.

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When cruise ships sail into Key West, the looming vessels evoke thoughts about the tourist economy.

What people don’t think about is how much damage these ships can cause to local marine life as they navigate through the port.

The College of the Florida Keys recently revealed in a year’s long study that the turbidity measures of ships – the level of suspended particles, such as sediment and organic matter, stirred up by the ship as it moves through the area – surpassed limits set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In some cases, these ships’ turbidity measurements reached levels akin to storms such as the recent damage left behind by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

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More than 100 passengers who traveled on P&O’s Ventura, a ship owned by Carnival Cruise Line, have filed suit after they say they got sick on board. 

Attorneys for the passengers claim there were “repeated outbreaks” of illness on the ship between April and June. About 519 passengers reported for weeks about their symptoms of norovirus, a stomach bug that causes inflammation in the stomach and intestines and is highly contagious. The first outbreak allegedly took place in May during a two-week cruise around the Canary Islands. 

In reporting from the BBC it was alleged that Carnival communicated that less than 1% of passengers experienced symptoms while Southampton health officials claimed the number was closer to 12% of passengers. 

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