A US District Judge ordered the owners of a cargo vessel to pay a fine of $3.3 million for failing to provide medical treatment to one of its crew member.
What happened?
The 56 year old crew member, Saul Alberto Acosta Varela working as a chief engineer onboard the vessel ‘Glory Sky I’ was ordered to pay a fine of $3.3 million earlier this week for neglecting to cover the medical treatment of one of its crew.
Crew member denied treatment:
The owner and operator of the vessel Dantor Cargo Shipping and Foto Transport have been involved in a lawsuit and the fell in hard times. The crew stopped receiving wages, and there were occasions when there was not enough food to go around.
The crew member Acosta, who had been found to be healthy during pre-boarding physical allegedly developed diabetes subsequently developing a diabetic ulcer on his foot because of the low food supply on the ship.
When the crew member asked for medical assistance, he was denied medical attention for his foot and was issued a plane ticket back to his native Honduras.
Foot amputated:
When the crew member reached Honduras, a doctor recommended his foot to be amputated while another doctor suggested a different operation that left him with a deformed foot. As a consequence of foot deformity, he is now disabled and cannot work.
US District Judge Robert Scola of the Southern District of Florida found that since the crew member was denied timely medical attention for his foort led to his foot being amputated. The judge held the owner and operator of the vessel responsible for his predicament and ordered them to pay $3.3 million.
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Source: Insurance Business Magazine
