ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997 TAG: 9702240046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
Now that the once-mysterious outbreak of Legionnaires' disease has been traced to a hot tub on display at a Christiansburg store, one of the victims is raising a new question: Who should be held financially responsible?
A lawsuit filed Friday puts the blame on Lowe's of Virginia Inc., claiming that managers at the home improvement store "knew or should have known" the tub was unsafe.
After an outbreak of Legionnaires' in the New River Valley sickened at least 23 people and left two dead, health officials said Lowe's shoppers contracted the disease by breathing bacteria-laden air circulated by the hot tub.
John Allen Kirk of Shawsville walked past the hot tub on two occasions, became ill as a result and nearly died, according to his lawsuit, filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Kirk is seeking $750,000 in damages.
The suit claims that the hot tub was not properly cleaned, maintained or treated with the proper chemicals. Lowe's also failed to warn Kirk and other customers of the danger posed by the hot tub display, the suit alleges.
Neither Kirk nor his lawyers could be reached for comment Friday. Clarissa Felts, a spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Lowe's, said the company does not comment on lawsuits against it.
Last fall, 22 people in the New River Valley were hospitalized, and two died, after contracting Legionnaire's disease, a form of pneumonia often linked to air-cooling systems. Most of the victims, who ranged in age from 42 to 86, fell ill between Oct. 8 and 14.
The New River Health District and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both have said that the likely cause for the outbreak was a hot tub on display at the Lowe's store in the busy U.S. 460-Virginia 114 retail hub.
At the time of the announcement, Dr. Jody Hershey of the New River Health District said that while there are guidelines for the upkeep of publicly used hot tubs and manufacturers' guides for hot tubs used at home, there are none for displayed hot tubs. Hershey could not be reached for comment Friday.
By the time the hot tub in question was pinpointed, it had been sold and removed from the store. As a precaution, Lowe's executives said the company no longer would keep water in hot tubs displayed in any of its 390 stores.
According to Kirk's lawsuit, he was "hospitalized numerous times and nearly died from his injuries."
The suit seeks damages to compensate for Kirk's "serious and permanent bodily injuries," emotional suffering and medical costs.
The CDC report noted that the New River Valley Legionnaires' outbreak is the first to be linked to a display-only hot tub. The CDC is assessing existing guidelines for the maintenance of hot tubs on cruise ships - adopted after an outbreak of Legionnaires' on a ship - to see if they might be applied to hot tub displays.
Legionnaires', which got its name from the first known outbreak, at an American Legion convention in Pennsylvania in 1976, is not contagious but can be found anywhere. The bacteria typically attack men older than 50 and those with weakened immune systems.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB