Laura Goodloe as Personal Representative of the Estate of Richard J Puchalski vs. Royal Caribbean Cruises, LTD
Following a four-day trial, a federal court jury in Miami delivered a $4.8 million verdict against Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) in the death of passenger Richard Puchalski.A cruise to Alaska in July of 2016 is how the Puchalski family chose to enjoy the 70th birthday of its patriarch Richard. But that celebration vacation aboard RCCLs' Explorer of The Seas turned into a traumatic tragedy when Puchalski suffered a massive cardiac arrest. Haggard Law Firm trial lawyers Michael Haggard and Todd Michaels, joined by co-counsel Phil Parrish, argued to the jury that the massive cardiac event was the direct result of decisions made by RCCL‘s shipboard doctor, Dr. Amanda Sanders. Puchalski went to the ship’s infirmary in the midst of a serious, but treatable cardiac incident. Michaels and Haggard explained to the jury that Dr. Sanders made three errors which turned the incident fatal: she failed to immediately send the grandfather to a facility that could handle the cardiac condition, she released Puchalski to his room while he was in the cardiac crisis, and she prescribed a medication which contradicted the condition she properly diagnosed. That medication led him into cardiac shock which ultimately killed him.
