- Royal Caribbean Cruises has been ordered to pay $3.38 million to the family of a passenger who died on one of the company's ships, the Miami Herald reported.
- The passenger, Richard Puchalski, reportedly died of a heart attack on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas ship in 2016.
- A federal jury in Miami reportedly ruled on Thursday that Royal Caribbean and Puchalski's doctor were negligent after Puchalski reported shortness of breath to the ship's medical staff.
- Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but a company representative told the Miami Herald that the company disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal it.
Royal Caribbean Cruises has been ordered to pay $3.38 million to the family of a passenger who died on one of the company's ships, the Miami Herald reported.
The passenger, Richard Puchalski, died of a heart attack on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas ship in 2016, according to the Miami Herald report. The lawsuit filed against the company in federal court reportedly said Puchalski had gone to the ship's medical staff and reported shortness of breath.
A ship doctor diagnosed Puchalski with a septal infarction, a piece of tissue between the heart's left and right ventricles that has died or is decaying, and gave him medicine before releasing him from the ship's infirmary, according to the report.
Read more: A lawyer warns of a legal nightmare you can face on a ship
The lawsuit said the doctor should have alerted Puchalski's family about his condition, conducted additional tests, or taken him to an on-shore hospital, the Miami Herald reported.
Puchalski reportedly collapsed about 30 minutes after leaving the infirmary and died four days later. The suit alleged that a long interval passed between Puchalski's collapse and his arrival at an on-shore hospital, according to the report.
A jury in Miami reportedly ruled on Thursday that Royal Caribbean and Puchalski's doctor were negligent and awarded Puchalski's family $3.38 million.
Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but a company representative told the Miami Herald that the company disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal it.
Have you worked on a cruise ship? Do you have a story to share? Email this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.
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