Family awarded $3.38M for Royal Caribbean passenger’s death

By: Associated Press//March 11, 2019//

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MIAMI (AP) — A federal jury says Royal Caribbean Cruises owes $3.38 million to the family of a Wisconsin man who died during an Alaskan cruise.

The jury returned its verdict on Thursday in federal court in Miami.

Court records show Richard Puchalski was with his family on the Explorer of the Seas in 2016. A civil complaint says the 70-year-old Wisconsin man visited the ship’s infirmary with shortness of breath and later collapsed after being treated and sent back to his cabin. The complaint says the ship’s medical staff made errors that caused Puchalski’s heart attack to be fatal.

Jurors found Royal Caribbean to be 70 percent at fault for approximately $34,000 in medical expenses and $4.8 million in loss of companionship and pain and suffering.

Royal Caribbean representatives say they plan to appeal the decision.

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