We will give you the answer to this question first. No, you are unlikely to be able to sue someone for giving you COVID-19. But there is a caveat, and that is if you are a first responder, law enforcement authority, paramedic, or other front-line public health official, you might have a claim for someone who lies about having the virus and gives it to you.
Why Is COVID-19 So Difficult to Manage?
COVID-19 and other related pandemic viruses (SARS-CoV-2) are difficult to control in large-scale populations. As is the nature of all pandemics, the viruses are easy to transmit to others and often mutate to make them virtually impossible to treat in people affected by the disease. If a person has COVID-19, does not wear a mandatory mask, and is out in public, that person is a walking virus that can transmit the disease to many people at once.
Can a Healthcare Worker Sue a Patient for Infecting the Worker with COVID-19?
This will be a bit of an issue to decide for many years to come. But, unfortunately, there is no one answer to this question. So let’s go through a scenario to see the liabilities at law and find out if there is an answer this way.
Let’s say that a person we will call Person A has COVID-19. Person A was unaware of his having the virus when he visited the dentist. Can anyone bring an action against Person A for the intentional transmission of the virus to the public? Probably not. But, can Person A be responsible for not notifying others of the possibility of his having COVID-19 once he tests positive, starts having symptoms, or is contacted by someone else in his past who calls him to say he might have been or was exposed to the virus? This is a potential claim that may need to be further investigated for its merits.
Disclosure and HIPAA Requirements and COVID-19
The HIPAA Privacy Rules allow the dental office, in our example, to disclose the protected health information of Person A, who is (in fact) infected with or exposed to COVID-19. In that case, Person A has a duty and responsibility to tell every healthcare worker, first responder, public authority, law enforcement personnel, and paramedic that he comes in contact with that he has COVID-19.
Experienced Attorneys Know What To Do with COVID-19 Claims
If you have a potential claim against someone for giving you COVID-19, you will want an experienced injury and accident attorney on your side. You will get only one chance to get this right, and you don’t get two chances to bring a claim for medical bills or damages after this type of loss. It is possible to forget something coming up for you later in your recovery. You can’t be expected to remember everything related to this type of injury claim. Contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm at (833) 254-2923 or fill this form to schedule an appointment.
