TRAVELERS DON'T KNOW LIMITATIONS OF CRUISE-SHIP HEALTH CARE
We're entering the holiday and winter travel seasons. That means tourists will encounter numerous mishaps--missing luggage, lost reservations, canceled flights, injuries, or even being robbed.
Most travelers and consumers aren't aware of how the law protects them, and they don't know when the law doesn't offer any protection, says Robert M. Jarvis, professor of law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. His speciality is travel law and he literally wrote the book on the topic, Travel Law: Cases and Materials.
Tourists taking a cruise this winter should be aware of the limitations of cruise-ship health care. For instance, many ships do not have defibrillators to restart hearts that have stopped beating, says Jarvis, who teaches travel law at The Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University. It is the only law school in the country offering a course on the topic.
"The bottom line is travelers should be aware of the limitations of cruise-ship health care just as they would be aware of health-care problems in foreign countries or in remote areas," says Jarvis. "If you have a health problem then you should contact the cruise line and ask about their equipment and training."
And if you think you can file a medical malpractice suit against a cruise ship, you need to think again, warns Jarvis. Shipowners are not liable for medical malpractice by the doctor.
"The doctor is considered an independent contractor because the shipowner is not able to control what the doctor does. So the shipowner always gets off the hook and the doctor is always responsible for his or her own malpractice," says Jarvis.
To win a suit, you have to show the doctor acted in a way that fell below the standard of the industry.
"Then, even if you win, 99 percent of the cruise-ship doctors are from foreign countries. When the voyage is over, the doctor goes back to his country, then you have to go and try to find him. Even if you get a judgement in the United States, the doctor probably has no assets here and is out of the country, so you're out of luck," says Jarvis.
The only way a shipowner can be held accountable is if the on-board treatment facility is equipped below industry standards or if the cruise line hires an unqualified person--someone without valid medical credentials--as ship's doctor.
Jarvis notes that this is just another example of how the law needs to catch up with the travel industry. The global travel industry is the fastest growing industry in the world. It employs 204 million people, generates $3.4 trillion in annual revenues and accounts for 10 percent of the world's Gross National Product. One out of every 12 U.S. workers is employed in the travel industry.
"The travel industry is emerging as one of the most regulated industries worldwide and travel law is a recognized specialty in Europe and Australia, but not in the U.S.," says Jarvis.
One of the goals at The Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center Law Center is to develop the specialty in the U.S. and become the academic center for its studying and teaching. The university is co-sponsoring a travel law conference, "International Travel and Tourism: Management, Law, and Regulation." It takes place April 10-13, 1999, in Fort Lauderdale. This conference is now an annual event.
The topics for this year's conference haven't been finalized. Some of the topics should include: Tourism Safety, Regulating the Advertising and Sale of Travel Products Over the Internet, Accommodating the Disabled Traveler, and "There Oughta Be a Law!"--An Expert Analysis of the Toughest Consumer Issues.
EDITORS & PRODUCERS:feel free to contact Jarvis at 954-262-6172 (office) or 954- 452-0657 (home). His e-mail address is Internet: [email protected]. If you'd like more information on the conference, call Joseph Harbaugh, dean of the Shepard Broad Law Center, at 954-262-6105. Linda Lahey, director of special events at the law school, is at 954-262-6111. Please contact Steve Infanti of Dick Jones Communications at 814-867-1963 or [email protected] if you need any assistance.
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