Holland America Cruise Line ended up on the wrong end of another lawsuit recently, this time to the tune of a $21 million verdict.
An Illinois man was awarded $21 million in damages resulting from an injury to his head after being struck by an automatic sliding door on the Holland America ship.
Read more about this recent case here.
Apparently, as information became available after the trial, more than a dozen incidents involving injuries to passengers due to the sliding doors had required medical attention in the three years prior to James Hausman’s accident. 
Simple head injuries can cause long term medical issues
What may have seemed like a simple ‘bump on the head’ turned out to be more than that as Hausman experienced mild traumatic brain injury and post concussive syndrome which has lent itself to problems with dizziness and fatigue among other issues.
It’s important to note that injuries happen on cruise ships all of the time. Sometimes, these injuries are the results of sheer accidents and sometimes they are the result of negligence or carelessness on part of the cruise line or its crew members. Regardless of how the accident happened or who was at fault, it’s extremely important to seek medical attention immediately.
A visit to the ship’s medical center should also be followed up with a visit to your local doctor once you arrive back home after the cruise, especially if you feel lingering issues from your accident.
For example, a fall in the cruise ship’s restaurant area might include broken bones, swelling and internal bleeding. Some of those symptoms may be noticed and cared for by the ship’s medical staff. Other symptoms may not present themselves until after you’ve arrived back home (or could have been missed by the ship’s doctors and nurses).
As cruise injury attorney’s we talk to passenger on a regular basis. It’s not uncommon for passengers to ‘discover’ their injuries were much worse once they were evaluated by a doctor in their home town — the medical staff on cruise ships are generally not as well trained nor have at their disposal the treatment tools that your local doctor might.
Questions about cruise ship accidents or injuries?
If you have a specific question or are unsure about your legal rights as a cruise ship passenger, you should reach out to a cruise ship injury law firm like Waks and Barnett, P.A. Our contact information is at the top right hand side of this page. You can use 800-905-2891 for calling our firm or the contact form for emailing us.