Mich. Federal Judge Dismisses Dentist’s COVID-19 Coverage Action for Lack of ‘Physical Damage’

DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a dentist’s COVID-19 business interruption action, finding he failed to allege that his practice sustained “direct physical damage,” therefore Aspen American Insurance Co. is not obligated to pay his claim.

In a Dec. 14 order, Judge Robert H. Cleland of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held that because Richard Kirsch DDS has not alleged that COVID-19 particles attached to and damaged his property, he cannot establish that COVID-19 caused tangible, physical damage to the property itself.

“Like other viruses, COVID-19 injures people but does not seem …