"Cruise Medical Malpractice" Tag Archives

Published on: March 25, 2025

Cruise Line Narrowly Misses Failed Health Inspection, CDC says. What to Know about Leesfield & Partners’ Cruise Cases.

A Royal Caribbean ship scored just one point above “unsatisfactory” in a recent health inspection conducted by the Centers for Disease Control; now ship officials are working to fix the issue.

In February, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas had its regular health inspection in which inspectors found over 50 hygiene and safety protocol violations, according to media reports. The violations included improper food storage and crew members handling ice with open forearm wounds. Youth programs also failed to properly report children with GI symptoms, a cause for concern given news reports of a recent string of norovirus outbreaks on ships.

Typically, cruise lines must score above an 85 to pass evaluations. Symphony of the Seas narrowly passed the threshold with a score of 86, according to media reporting. To correct the issues, the cruise line alleges some of the steps taken included retraining employees and amending standard operating procedures related to food storage and reporting illnesses in youth centers.

Published on: December 26, 2024

Cruise ship worker accused with possessing child sex abuse material caught by police at Port Everglades, officials say

By Leesfield & Partners

A cruise ship worker who was accused of possessing child sex abuse material on his cellphone was found by police at Port Everglades, according to reporting from Channel 10 News.

Koen Leonard Eyck, 35, was charged with transportation and possession of child pornography. Eyck was working on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam and has since been fired, according to reporting from Channel 10. There has been no official confirmation as to what role he fulfilled on board.

When the ship docked in Porty Everglades on Dec. 14, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents searched Eyck’s electronic devices. On it, they found his participation in a WhatsApp group chat dedicated to sharing the child sex abuse material and a $35 electronic payment allegedly used to pay for additional illegal material. When questioned, Eyck admitted to receiving the links for anywhere between five to 10 years.

Published on: December 19, 2024

Royal Caribbean Cruise Passenger Accused of Verbally Attacking Crew Dies in Security’s Custody.

By Leesfield & Partners

A Royal Caribbean passenger who is accused of verbally attacking the crew and kicking at a door on board has died while detained by the cruise ship’s security.

Michael Virgil, 35, has been identified as the passenger who died on Dec. 13 aboard Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas. He was traveling with his fiancé and 7-year-old son.

The incident happened about an hour after the ship left from the port of San Pedro, near Los Angeles, California. Cell phone footage of Virgil that has gained traction online shows him attempting to kick down a door, trying to get at one of the crew members.

Published on: September 17, 2024

Boy Dies on Cruise Docked in Texas After Falling from Interior Balcony

By Leesfield & Partners

The FBI is investigating the death of a 12-year-old boy who plummeted to his death from an interior balcony aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

The boy died on Sept. 7 while traveling on Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas for a seven-night cruise in the Western Caribbean. The ship was on its way to dock in Galveston, Texas, when the incident occurred. The boy fell into the ship’s Central Park area which the company describes online as a “gathering place” for passengers showcasing an array of plant life.

Investigators have not released any official details on how the boy fell.

Published on: September 5, 2024

Doctor mistakenly removes man’s liver instead of his spleen. Now, his wife is planning to sue.

By Leesfield & Partners

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.

Published on: August 23, 2024

Man In Coma For 42 Days After Seeing Florida Doctor Is Eerily Similar To Cruise Ship Cases. A Look Back At Previous Medical Malpractice In The Cruise Ship Industry

By Leesfield & Partners

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.

Published on: July 26, 2024

Athens Convention, Shore Excursion Limitations, and Barbetta Rule: What to know about cruise ship litigation

By Leesfield & Partners

With the sun warming your skin, the sea breeze tussling your hair and a full buffet waiting for you at lunchtime, the possibility that something may go awry seems impossible. For many, cruise vacations go off without a hitch. Others, however, are not so lucky.

When it comes to the unlucky ones, Leesfield & Partners attorneys are ready to help pick up the pieces to guide injured clients through the legal process. With over four decades of experience navigating devastating cruise passenger and crew member injury cases, the firm has been recognized as a leader in its field with record verdicts in the state and nationally for injured clients.

With its landmark office in the heart of Miami, about a 30-minute drive from PortMiami, also known as the “cruise capital of the world,” Leesfield & Partners attorneys have had thousands of passenger injury and wrongful death cases come across their desks. Attorneys with the firm have handled cases of medical malpractice at the hands of inept cruise line doctors, devastating cases of wrongful death during shore excursions, and negligent security cases in which passengers and or crewmembers have become the victims of violent crime while on board these ships.

Published on: February 6, 2013

Death of Cruise Ship employee of Miami-Based Cruise Line

By Leesfield & Partners

Last week, Australian authorities confirmed that 24-year-old Jackie Kastrinelis had died aboard the Seven Seas Voyager operated by Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Regent Seven Seas Cruises is based out of Miami, along with the other more well-known cruise lines suck as Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruises, Celebrity, or Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Details of Jackie Kastrinelis’ death have been far and few between. To date, the authorities have confirmed that Jackie’s body was discovered on Sunday in her cabin aboard the cruise ship. While investigators denied the existence of any evidence of foul play, an autopsy was performed Monday morning, leaving the possibility that the young woman’s death may have been caused by drugs or alcohol.

Jackie Kastrinelis was an employee aboard the Seven Seas Voyager. She worked as a singer and performer. She began her working career with Regent Seven Seas Cruise in March 2011 when she was offered a contract to perform for guests aboard ships while cruising around the world. At the time, Ms. Kastrinelis was a recent graduate of the University of Hartford (2010) where she received a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.