Carnival Cruise Line Hired 'Unlicensed Doctor'; Causes Cruise Ship Passenger's Death, Lawsuit Claims

Carnival Cruise has been slapped a lawsuit by a widow alleging that an unlicensed physician aboard the Carnival Dream cruise ship caused her husband’s death last year.

The lawsuit against the Cruise line seeks hefty damages and expenses. According to cruise news, Daniel Murphy, 55 and his wife, Mary Ann boarded the Carnival ship at the Port of New Orleans under a week-long cruise deal vacation in May 2018.

During the cruise, Murphy experienced discomfort and visited the ship’s medical center citing chest pain, profuse sweating, chills, stomach ache, lethargy, and weakness.

The physician, Dr. Chenna Kesava Reddy Yenuga Mandi, after examining the cruise passenger sent him to his stateroom directing rest for 24 hours.

Despite his stated concerns, Murphy was allowed to go ashore to Cozumel without re-examining him, the lawsuit stated.

“While in Cozumel, Murphy suffered a cardiac arrest and ended up passing away at CostaMed hospital,” said Andrew Freedman, one of the attorneys of the plaintiff.

The Louisiana woman claimed the shipping company failed to deploy a qualified physician and that led to her husband’s death two days after seeking medical care.

The lawsuit alleged doctor Mandi misdiagnosed Murphy and he was not a licensed medical practitioner as required by the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Although Carnival did not respond to media queries on the matter, in court filings, the cruise line defended Mandi’s qualifications and urged Mary Ann Murphy’s suit to be quashed as she failed to substantiate the claims.

Carnival Cruise announces Pepsi pact for drinks

Meanwhile, Carnival Cruise Lines will switch from Coca-Cola products to Pepsi products next year. The move will also bring on board many bottled products from the Starbucks menu.

From January 2020 all the 25+ ships of Carnival including the upcoming Mardi Gras ship will have Pepsi products on board.

They include soda drinks and several other products including iced teas, coffee drinks, juices, sports drinks, and soft drinks.

Carnival President Christine Duffy announced the plan and said: “At Carnival Cruise Line, we invite our guests to Choose Fun, and now with PepsiCo's extensive portfolio of brands, we're able to give them more ways to choose a beverage that suits their taste, mood, and preference.”

The Pepsi privilege in Carnival will allow passengers to enjoy Starbucks coffee, Gatorade, Pure Leaf Tea, Naked Juice and Bubly seltzer. This will exceed the bevy of sodas like Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Sierra Mist Zero Sugar.

The costs can vary depending on the drinks packages. Carnival will offer packages with unlimited soda and juice for $5.95 per day for kids while the same will cost adults $8.50 per day.

A broad package will cost $51.95 per day and carry unlimited soda, hot tea, juice, wine, beer, specialty coffee, frozen cocktails, bottled water, and energy drinks.