Queens Middle School Principal Succumbs to Swine Flu

Mitchell Wiener, a Queens Middle School principal, succumbed to swine flu Sunday night and became the city’s first swine flu death.

The 55 year old, beloved assistant principal of Intermediate School 238 in Hollis, died at 6:17 at Flushing Hospital Medical Center. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned the nation to brace for more deaths from the H1N1 virus.

Wiener was treated with an experimental device Friday night and Saturday according to Tom Petrie of Engergex Systems that created a Hemo-Modulator that uses UV beams to treat the flu. The device exposes infected blood to a precise amount of ultraviolet rays, rendering the pathogens inactive.

Mitchell Wiener is the sixth person in the United States to succumb to the swine flu. The Weiner family said his only previous ailment had been gout.