The family of the Queens high school administrator who was the city's first swine flu-related fatality has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. The Daily News reports the suit alleges the city failed to provide "accurate information about the flu" to I.S. 238 Assistant Principal Mitchell Wiener in a timely way, even as people in the school system were testing positive for the H1N1 virus back in May.
Wiener soon contracted swine flu and died on May 17 after being hospitalized for three days, though city health officials at the time pointed to pre-existing medical conditions that left Wiener vulnerable to severe illness. (His school was closed after he was hospitalized.) Underlying conditions that can exacerbate swine flu include "diabetes, asthma, heart disease, lung disease, a weakened immune system and, possibly, obesity."
Wiener's family believes the city could have done more to prevent the virus' spread, a charge Mayor Bloomberg denied Tuesday: "The city didn't do anything wrong...We have to make decisions, which schools are open or closed. Our obligation is to keep schools open." The Wiener family suit seeks $40 million in compensatory damages for Wiener's three sons' loss of companionship, guidance, and moral support. The city also faces another swine flu-related lawsuit: According to the Times, it "was filed by an inmate at Rikers Island, Willie Chesson, on June 18. He cited 'mental anxiety because of flu outbreak.'"
