Cruise ships

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a report detailing two separate outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease linked to cruise ships on different cruise lines.

The report’s findings say that the two ships, which were referred to as only “Ship A” and “Ship B,” had outdoor, private hot tubs on balconies. These hot tubs, according to the CDC, were the most likely cause of the outbreaks. Cases began springing up in November 2022, resulting in at least 12 passengers exposed to the disease.

Ship A, which had cases of Legionnaires’ Disease from November 2022 until April 2024, had a total of eight cases on board. Five of these cases stemmed from the same 14-day cruise in November 2022. Two other cases were identified from August-September 2023. In April 2024, one additional patient was identified. Both patients who were exposed in 2023 told health officials they were staying in cabins with hot tubs on the balconies. Of these cases, six were hospitalized.

Despite great reviews calling Joshua Jackson a “miracle worker” for pulling off the antics shown in his new show, Doctor Odyssey, which follows the adventures of a cruise ship doctor, Leesfield & Partners knows the bleak reality and its consequences for passengers.

In nearly five decades of personal injury practice in Miami, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have recovered over $66 million for hundreds of victims of negligence at the hands of cruise ship doctors. Despite these companies marketing their ships as vessels with state-of-the-art infirmaries and staffed with some of the leading medical professionals in the field, this is often not the case. In fact, it has been the experience of this law firm that these ships have hired subpar doctors and nurses who do not meet the standards necessary to practice medicine in the United States.

These companies are able to skirt these regulations because they operate under different regulations while at sea, often traveling between countries and in international waters, paving the way for doctors who are not licensed in the U.S. to be hired for these roles.

Articles Tagged with Cruise ships

Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease Linked Back to Two Cruise Ships, CDC says.

Critics Rave Over Cruise Ship Doctor TV Show. Leesfield & Partners Knows the Reality is Starkly Different