NU Online News Service, Oct. 29, 1:20 p.m.EDT

Property and casualty insurers can expect to be hit by a swirlof claims arising from swine flu that include actions againsthomeowners and businesses, a medical malpractice defense attorneyis predicting.

Charles Kutner, whose New York-based law firm defendsindividuals and institutions in the health industry, said hebelieves that p&c insurers may have to modify coverage to limitliability.

As hypothetical examples of the kind of legal action the illnesscould create, Mr. Kutner suggested that a suit could arise if aguest contracted flu after attending a cocktail party where thehost did not warn that their child had the illness.

Similarly, a homeowner could be at risk of becoming a defendantif they failed to vaccinate their child against flu and theyoungster passed on that illness to children invited for a playdate–one of whom sickens and dies.

"The exposure is there [and] you've got a lawsuit on yourhands," he warned.

Mr. Kutner said he thought malpractice actions could arisebecause of a lack of availability of flu vaccine, but he doubtedthey would be found to have merit.

There are also possible actions from medical complicationsarising from a flu shot, because "invariably there arecomplications from vaccines and lawsuits."

Employees, he said, can be encouraged to get flu shots, but,"Can you force employees to get flu shots? Probably not."

On the other hand, Mr. Kutner said that he believed an employercould be held liable "if you knew an employee was diagnosed withflu and you didn't tell everyone else on the staff."

To prevent against that sort of liability, he noted,universities make it a point to announce it to everyone at theirinstitution when a student has contracted a communicable illnesssuch as meningitis.

The key to a defense, he said, is putting third parties onnotice when you have information. When a suit is brought, Mr.Kutner explained, the key issues are "What did you know? When didyou know? And, what did you do about it."

In New York, Mr. Kutner noted there is a pending $40 millionlawsuit brought by the family of school principal Mitchell Weineragainst the city, claiming the Board of Education failed to alertthe principal that he had been in contact with children who hadtested positive for the virus; that it did not act quickly enoughto stop the transmission of the disease; that it did notdisseminate adequate information about health conditions that wouldincrease the risks of the virus; and that it did not provide a safeworking environment for Mr. Wiener and other school employees,among other allegations.

Mr. Kutner suggested that with so much exposure, insurers "aregoing to have to start thinking about homeowner policies and thesebig general liability policies."

"If there is a pandemic, it's potentially a major casualtyloss," he said.