MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ON CRUISE SHIPS
Hurt by a doctor or nurse on a cruise? Find out if the care met the standard.
Medical care at sea comes from a ship’s doctors and nurses, and a mistake can be hard to fix far from a hospital. If a provider’s care fell below the standard a reasonable professional would meet, however, the provider, the cruise line or both may have to answer for it. Because the ship and any hospital you were sent to keep the records, early action matters.
Most cruise tickets give you one year to file, and often six months to give written notice. Medical claims may have their own requirements, so please call as soon as you can.
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Results
- $150KCarnival · passenger accident
- $80KRoyal · slip & fall
- $35KRoyal · slip & fall
- $100KHolland America · slip & fall
- $38KMSC · slip & fall
- $70KCarnival · slip & fall on deck
HOW MEDICAL MALPRACTICE HAPPENS AT SEA
At sea, one provider’s mistake can be hard to catch.
A ship’s medical center may have only a few doctors and nurses, and there is rarely a second opinion or a specialist on call. Because of that, a missed sign, a wrong drug or a rushed decision can go unchecked until a patient reaches a hospital.
Medical malpractice looks at the provider’s own care. For example, a case may ask whether a doctor or nurse met the standard of care, how the ship hired and trained them, and what the ticket and medical forms say. In addition, charts, orders and shore hospital records can show what was done and when.
Misdiagnosis & missed diagnosis
A heart attack, stroke, appendicitis or infection treated as something minor.
Medication errors
The wrong drug, the wrong dose, or a known allergy ignored.
Procedure errors
Mistakes during wound care, setting a fracture or other procedures.
Poor monitoring
Patients left without checks, or warning signs not acted on.
Failure to refer or transfer
Not sending a patient to a hospital when one was needed.
Missing informed consent
Treatment given without explaining the risks or other options.
Poor records & handoffs
Notes that are missing or wrong, or records that never reached the next hospital.
Unsupervised or underqualified staff
Staff working beyond their training or without proper oversight.
Anywhere else care was given
Port clinics and hospitals the ship sent you to. A mistake isn’t limited to the places listed here.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO PROVE
The care fell below the standard of a reasonable professional.
Under general maritime law, a cruise line owes passengers reasonable care under the circumstances, and medical providers are held to the standard of care for their work. In a medical malpractice case, that means showing the care you received fell below that standard and that the shortfall caused harm. A cruise line often says its doctors are independent, so a case may also look at whether the line can still be held responsible.
The standard of care
What a reasonable doctor or nurse would have done in the same situation.
A breach
The provider did something, or failed to do something, that fell below it.
Harm caused by it
Medical records and expert opinion showing the shortfall caused or worsened your injury.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK A PROVIDER MADE A MISTAKE
Get a second opinion, then protect the records.
Get a second opinion
See a hospital or your own doctor as soon as you can, even if the ship’s doctor said you were fine.
Ask for your full records
Request the ship’s medical chart, orders, bills and any hospital records. Do not sign a release you have not read.
Write down what happened
Note the times, your symptoms, what you were told and given, and who treated you.
Keep your medications and papers
Save prescriptions, discharge notes, medication bottles and any consent forms you signed.
Keep your ticket and bills
Your ticket sets the deadlines and the court. Save your folio, bills and messages too.
Call a Cruise Injury Attorney
Medical charts and orders can be lost or overwritten. We can send a written request that they be preserved, and we work with medical experts when we take a case.
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE RESULTS
All results[Confirm] CASE TYPE
$0.0M[Confirm] One plain line about a real malpractice case the firm handled.
[Confirm] CASE TYPE
$0.0M[Confirm] One plain line about a real malpractice case the firm handled.
[Confirm] CASE TYPE
$0.0M[Confirm] One plain line about a real malpractice case the firm handled.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
IN CLIENTS’ WORDS
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QUESTIONS BEFORE THE CALL
Can I sue a cruise line for medical malpractice?
Often, yes, depending on the facts. A doctor, a nurse or the cruise line can be held responsible when care falls below the standard a reasonable professional would meet, for example through a missed diagnosis or a medication error. However, the ticket and your medical forms can affect where and when you can file. For that reason, a free case review is the quickest way to learn where you stand.
Can the cruise line be responsible for the ship’s doctor?
It may be. Cruise lines often say their doctors are independent contractors, but that does not automatically end a claim. Responsibility can still turn on who hired the doctor, how the line described its medical care and what the ticket says. Because the facts differ from ship to ship, each case needs its own review.
What is the difference between medical malpractice and medical negligence?
The terms overlap. Malpractice usually describes a professional’s failure to meet the standard of care, while negligence is the broader idea of failing to take reasonable care. On a ship, either may apply, so we focus on what happened, not the label.
Do I need a medical expert to prove it?
Medical claims usually rely on qualified experts who can explain what reasonable care would have looked like. We work with them when we take a case. In the meantime, keep every record you have, since the expert will need them.
What if the mistake happened at a hospital in another country?
It can still matter. Where you can file depends on your ticket and who treated you, and care in another country can bring that country’s rules into play. Whether the cruise line is involved depends on how the care was arranged, so we look at who sent you there and what you signed.
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim?
Most cruise tickets give you one year to file, and often six months to give written notice, both far shorter than usual injury deadlines. Medical claims may have their own requirements as well. Since the clock may already be running, call as soon as you can, and we will check the dates that apply to your ticket.
What does it cost to find out if I have a case?
Nothing. The case review is free, and if we take your case, we work on contingency, so our fee comes only from what we recover for you. If we do not win, you owe us nothing in attorney fees.
FREE CASE REVIEW
Hurt on a cruise? Talk to Debi’s team today.
No fee unless we win. The call costs nothing, and we respond as soon as possible.