Family Awarded $3.38 Million Due to Cruise Passenger’s Death Due to Medical Malpractice

The family of a cruise ship passenger who died while taking a cruise vacation was awarded $3.38 million by a federal jury this week.

70 year old Richard Puchalski was sailing aboard the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas with his family in 2016 when he visited the ship’s infirmary, complaining of shortness of breath. He was treated by the ship’s medical personnel and sent back to his cabin, here he collapsed. Puchalski was having a heart attack, a fact about which the cruise medical personnel were apparently oblivious. Puchalski later died from his injuries. 

In a complaint, filed in federal court, Puchalski’s family claimed that medical negligence led to his death. The jury agreed, and awarded the family over $34,390.32 for medical expneses and $4.8 million for loss of companionship and pain and suffering. As the company was found to be 70 percent at fault, the final award was $3,384,073.22.