When those who work at sea get sick or hurt while on a voyage, they must trust their employers to provide appropriate medical treatment for them. Treatment may include first aid or initial care from a medical professional aboard the vessel.
In emergencies or more serious cases, the worker may have to be flown from the vessel to the closest medical facility on land.
Being at sea does not exempt fishers and other workers on vessels from falling victim to medical negligence. The same common mistakes which doctors and other professionals make on land can also happen at sea:
- A professional can misdiagnose a condition or unreasonably delay in making a diagnosis.
- Although surgeries and other major procedures would likely be done on land, medication errors or other errors can happen during treatment onboard a vessel. These may seem like minor mistakes, but they can have severe consequences.
- In this respect, in the high-pressure environment of a fishing vessel, there can be a temptation to rush crew members back to work without proper medical care and rest.
Victims of medical neglect on a vessel may have legal options
The Jones Act makes a ship’s owner liable to provide adequate medical care to injured and sick crewmembers. If they do not do so, a seafarer can sue for damages under the Jones Act.
These damages would be in addition to the maintenance and cure doctrine that requires employers to provide care for an injured or sick worker while at sea.
Relatively speaking, it is easier to hold a ship’s owner responsible for medical neglect than it would be to hold, for example, a hospital on the shore responsible. The Jones Act and other laws favor seafarers who work on and around Alaska’s shores.
Those who suspect they were the victims of inadequate medical care while at sea may have legal options available to them.