• The infectious disease exclusion is an exception found in a significant minority of physicians’ professional liability insurance policies that excludes coverage of claims caused by the transmission of infectious diseases. The wording of this exception usually consists of two parts. The first part excludes coverage for claims caused by a doctor’s refusal to treat a person who has (or is suspected of having) a communicable disease. The second part of the exclusion excludes coverage of claims in which a patient alleges that an insured doctor passed on an infectious disease to the patient. The rationale for the first part of the exception is that, with proper precautions, even patients with infectious diseases can usually be treated without endangering the doctor or other staff. The rationale for the second part of the exclusion is that, given the nature of the doctor’s job, it is usually possible for the doctor to know if he or she has contracted an infectious disease. Therefore, physicians who know they have an infectious disease should not practice medicine until the disease is completely cured. Accordingly, many policies exclude coverage for claims related to a doctor passing on an infectious disease to a patient he or she is treating.