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A. Worley, Injured Cruise ship employee

New Mexico
I hired Brian Beckcom in 2009 for the injury case I had after I was hurt as a deckhand and within 11 months Brian had settled my case. He did such a fabulous job and I recommend using his firm for your maritime injury case.

J. McKeone, Deckhand

Livingston, Texas
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Steve T.

Houston, Texas
I was hurt on a boat offshore. Brian and his law firm worked hard on my case. The settlement he got for me will take care of my financial needs for the rest of my life. If you are looking for someone to take your interests at heart Brian and his law firm can give you the attention your case deserves.

Tim M.

Austin, Texas
I hired Brian after I was hurt on an offshore oil platform. I would recommend Brian and his law firm to anyone who needed a good injury lawyer, and especially any offshore worker. . ..

Jackie R

Houston, Texas
There are only a small number of attorneys who could handle such a complex case as mine, and Brian was at the top of the list. His response time is unsurpassed, replying within minutes to my initial enquiry. He has an instinctive understanding of the legal issues, and consummate people skills, an essential attribute in the negotiation phase of any litigation. Thanks to Brian the case was settled favorably within a year.

Steven S.,

Wales, U.K.
Brian, your book was a real eye-opener. If I had read your book sooner, I would have avoided a lot of costly mistakes.

Captain Jim Vickers
I was hurt on an offshore oil rig. I was unable to work or get proper medical care from the company. I was referred to Brian by another law firm because that firm knew Brian specialized in Jones Act cases. Brian settled my case in less than 12 months. The settlement will enable me to take care of my family financially for a long time. I would highly recommend Brian and his firm to any injured worker.

Freddy N.,

Lufkin, Texas

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Miami cruise ship outbreak reflects rampant vessel disease threat, Part 1

First of two parts.

On November 1st, 57-year old British tourist Tore Myrha died of pneumonia at a Miami hospital. According to a story in the Miami Herald, a report from the Miami-Dade medical examiner’s office cited the Legionnaire’s Disease (LD) that Myrha contracted as a passenger onboard the cruise ship Liberty of the Seas as being the cause of the pneumonia.

While the Center for Disease Control (CDC) did not verify that Myrha contracted LD on the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.ship, passengers from the same voyage strongly suggested that it may in fact have been the breeding ground of his killer.

A report on the website Cruise Critic indicated that passengers on the very cruise in question said that the vessel’s hot tubs were shut down every day but one during the seven day voyage. One poster wrote that there had been two cases of Legionnaire’s on that sailing and that Customs delayed sailing while inspecting the ship, though there were no confirmed reports of the bacteria being found on the vessel.

The CDC issued public warnings to passengers to be cautious about Legionaire’s on cruise ships after two cases occurred on three ships in 2005.

According to the CDC, Legionnaire’s is an infectious disease hospitalizing between 8,000 and 12,000 people in the U.S. each year. While some people have only mild or no symptoms, others become violently ill or die from pneumonia-like symptoms. It was named after a 1976 outbreak among American Legion conventioneers in Philadelphia. The Legionella bacteria is not transmitted directly from person-to-person, but is airborne in vapors and mist in places like hot tubs, warm showers, plumbing systems and parts of air conditioning systems of large complexes.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease usually begins between two to 14 days after exposure to the bacteria. Initial symptoms include: headache, muscle pain, chills and fever that may exceed 104° F. By the second or third day, other symptoms may form: coughing with blood and mucus, shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, loss of appetite, mental confusion and gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.

LD is not a new phenomenon aboard vessels. In a 1994 CDC case study, 50 passengers were identified from nine cruises as contracting the disease between April and July of that year. Many of those passengers were believed to have become infected from exposure to hot tubs.

From November 2003 to May 2004, eight cases of LD were reported to the CDC. A recent Miami Herald story reports that CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said his agency has looked into five or six cases of LD aboard cruise ships coming into and out of South Florida during the past few months, though Skinner would not name the ships.

LD is hardly the only threat of illness onboard vessels. There have been cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Shigella species and others. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that more than 100 disease outbreaks have been reported on ships in the past 40 years. This is likely an understatement as many outbreaks go undetected or unreported.

Story continues here...

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