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FORMER PLAYERS FILE NEW CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST 32 NFL TEAMS


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http://www.chatsports.com/nfl/a/BREAKING-New-ClassAction-Lawsuit-Alleges-Medical-Conspiracy-Against-All-32-NFL-Teams-10-206-3537

 

A new class-action lawsuit has been filed today against all 32 NFL teams individually by 13 former players alleging the organizations engaged in a “medical conspiracy” to put profit over the health and safety of players by intentionally misrepresenting medications. The lawsuit claims this was done in order to keep players on the field at all costs, directly causing both physical and economic damages, injuries, and losses.

Read the full lawsuit filing here, exclusive from Chat Sports

Etopia Evans (representing the estate of Charles Evans), Robert Massey, Troy Sadowski, Christopher Goode, Darryl Ashmore, Jerry Wunsch, Eric King, Alphonso Carreker, Steven Lofton, Duriel Harris, Jeffrey Graham, Mel Renfro, and Cedric Killings are the plaintiffs listed, but the lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court of Maryland on behalf of all retired NFL players. This lawsuit comes less than one year after the NFL was ordered to pay $765 million in damages in a lawsuitregarding concussion-related claims from thousands of former players.

On condition of anonymity, one of the lawyers in the case exclusively told Chat Sports that the plaintiffs are seeking, at minimum, lifelong health care for all former NFL players, as well as punitive damages.

The lawsuit states that when football began to rival baseball as “the country’s national game” in the 1960′s, teams started seeing the large profits that came from television and began to realize the “true nature of the revenues they could achieve.” 

During professional football’s rise, the lawsuit claims that teams began to understand the “necessity” of keeping their best players in the game to get the best possible TV ratings, creating the “profit over health” culture. The lawsuit also points to the NFL’s expansion from 24 to 32 teams since the 1960′s, adding more games to the regular season schedule, giving teams less rest by playing on Monday and Thursday nights, and smaller 53-man rosters to show the league’s focus on profit over player health and safety.

The lawsuit alleges that as a result, team doctors and trainers started giving players various pain killers (including Percodan, Percocet, Vicodin, Valium, Librium, and Codeine), anti-inflammatories (including Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, and Toradol), and sleep aids to keep them on the field or get them back on the field as soon as possible:

Players from every decade since the 1960s describe the same thing – Club doctors and trainers providing injections or pills, often not telling the players what they were receiving and rarely if ever talking about the need for informed consent or the side or long term effects of what they were taking.  These doctors and trainers dispensed the Medications to their football patients in an amount and manner they would never do with their non-football patients.  

Since at least the mid-1960s, the Clubs, by agreement or understanding, created a culture that places an emphasis on returning players to the field as soon as possible with little if any consideration for the short or long-term effects such return to play will have on the players’ health.

The plaintiffs claim that they were given those medications without:

- A valid prescription
- An objective and neutral medical examination and diagnosis
- A proper and clear explanation of the possible side effects and long term health consequences
- Continuing medical supervision including evaluation of therapeutic value, drug interactions, and toxicity
- In amounts exceeding recommended dosages
- For periods exceeding recommended dosage periods
- In combination with other drugs in a contraindicated combination
- In combination with alcoholic beverages in a contraindicated combination
- Without a pre-administration warning of possible side effects, toxicity, dangerous drug interactions or other risks

The plaintiffs have also included numerous stories in the lawsuit in an effort to back up their claims, including this one involving offensive lineman Jerry Wunsch and former Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren:

On November 23, 2003, the Seattle Seahawks were playing the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore.  Before the game, Coach Holmgren asked Mr. Wunsch if he could play, to which Mr. Wunsch replied “I do not think so.”  Coach Holmgren then called for Sam Ramsden, the Seahawks’ trainer, and asked “what can we do to help Mr. Wunsch play today.”  Mr. Ramsden brought the doctors over, who gave him a Toradol shot and 750 mg of Vicodin, saying they would help, even though Mr. Wunsch was already taking anti-inflammatories as prescribed by his doctors. 

He played feeling high and after half time the Medications wore off and he told anyone who would listen that he could not play anymore but Mr. Ramsden gave him another 750 mg of Vicodin for the second half.  In short, on top of the Indocin he was already taking, Mr. Wunsch was also given 1500 mg of Vicodin and a Toradol shot, within a three hour span, so he could play football.

The lawsuit claims that the “intentional misrepresentations” mentioned in this story and throughout the NFL led to “internal organ injuries and muscular/skeletal injuries” for the players, and they were “made worse by the administration of the medications” to keep the players on the field.

If the plaintiff’s claims are true, all 32 teams would then be in violation of the Federal Controlled Substances Act and/or Food Drug & Cosmetic Act, along with analogous State laws for not governing the “dispensation, use, distribution, and possession of controlled substances”, as well as not providing labels and warnings on necessary medications.

The lawsuit is being filed by the same legal team that sued NFL as a whole last year in California for negligence on this front, but that case was thrown out. They hope that by re-filing against all 32 teams individually, they can expose the medical practices of each organization’s team doctors and trainers to get lifelong health care for all former NFL players.

 

 

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Each player that has gone through this had at the moment of being wrongfully doped up a choice they could of made. Go along with the system as they describe in the suit and take the risk for their carreer (money) or deny the treatment being offered. everyone should have a sense of personal responsibility. But as most people they did not want to suffer the consequences of standing up for themselves. Because it meant risking their carreer (money).

They will have a tough time proving a conspiracy, since team doctors were hired by the teams, and I would imagine that most teams have some contractual legal protection from improper care routines and treatments given by the doctors they have hired. I doubt they will be able to prove all 32 teams collaborated together and effectively controlled medical procedures like the lawsuit states.

They would have to prove the players were coerced and threatened if they didn't take the treatment, and that is an individual case by case, team by team, and what doctors etc...

I hate when players come back after their employers years after the alleged damage was done, when it's common sense that football is inherently physically damaging. But the payout is what made it reasonable to take the gamble.

I also hate seeing people all ****ed up when they are older, but usually it's combined with other wrong or bad life decisions that were made after football, stacked up on their medical issues that drives these lawsuits. The shame of it is the law firm will grab most of the money from any awards that may be given, and the plaintiffs are still going to be short changed.

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No and the players assumed the risk. Therefore no damages but hey it's America I can sue someone if they look at me the wrong way literally.

 

that's the point.

 

what they are saying is they couldn't judge the risks accordingly because they were lied to or not told what is legally required to tell someone about serious medications

 

I'm not saying I buy that, but you touched on the central idea of the lawsuit

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Man. Those old farts will never go away right? **** you all. You played the game, made a fortune and retired. Stay retired and try not to steal anything from anybody. **** y'all old farts. 

In regard to the players in the 60's and 70's I wouldn't say they made fortunes.

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In regard to the players in the 60's and 70's I wouldn't say they made fortunes.

Yeah they didn't but tough luck right? If NFL didn't make that much money then, whose fault is it? Why are they trying to take advantage of the situation? F... them. Really. O got no respect for these gold diggers. 

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Man. Those old farts will never go away right? **** you all. You played the game, made a fortune and retired. Stay retired and try not to steal anything from anybody. **** y'all old farts.

I hope these gold diggers lose also. It might cripple Jeb Bush's presidential run if Woody's forced to pay his walking around money to a couple schlubs who where exploited making the league what is is today a couple bucks.

None if these guys outside the lawyers(Who will also be donating to Jebs Super Pac) get rich off these things. There will be a hundred more players who attach their names to this thing as a class action and the settlement will be pocket change like the concussion thing. It's not like this its a baseless lawsuit and I couldn't give a sh*t about the people who are the defendants. It's a bunch of sperm lottery winners who are the 32 luckiest people in the world, if Woody wasn't born rich I wonder all the time what he'd be doing in life

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No and the players assumed the risk. Therefore no damages but hey it's America I can sue someone if they look at me the wrong way literally.

One thing about current day America, no one assumes personal responsibility, it's always someone's fault.  SUE! SUE! SUE! The new American slogan! This is BS.

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One thing about current day America, no one assumes personal responsibility, it's always someone's fault.  SUE! SUE! SUE! The new American slogan! This is BS.

 

 

There's a difference between a baseless lawsuit(see Al Sharpton's daughter currently learning the family art of the shakedown) and these guys from the early years having been abused because they where injected with all sorts of sh*t by team employed Dr's who thought the Hippocratic oath was what it sounds like, not what it is.

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No way Jeb sees that kind of consensus.

I hope these gold diggers lose also. It might cripple Jeb Bush's presidential run if Woody's forced to pay his walking around money to a couple schlubs who where exploited making the league what is is today a couple bucks.

None if these guys outside the lawyers(Who will also be donating to Jebs Super Pac) get rich off these things. There will be a hundred more players who attach their names to this thing as a class action and the sentiment will be pocket change like the concussion thing. It's not like this its a baseless lawsuit and I couldn't give a sh*t about the people who are the defendants. It's a bunch of sperm lottery winners who are the 32 luckiest people in the world, if Woody wasn't born rich I wonder all the time what he'd be doing in life

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Mindboggling.

Fans begrudging players who risked their lives for the fans amusement have the nerve to defend a trillion dollar industry for their exploitation of those same players.

Yea and you wonder why some players have nothing but contempt for ya!!!

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We pay either way (taxes or tickets) so why not let the owners pay for the damage their sport creates, plus that would go a long way to help player safety...

 

It absolutely would go a long way towards ensuring the safety of the players.  But that would be an actual concerete solution that the NFL could do, which it doesn't appear that they actually want to do.  All of their "solutions" are lip service to the whole "player safety" mantra.  The only players they are concerned with the safety of are the "skill" or "star" players, such as the QBs and the WRs.  The damage that is done at the line of scrimmage for both the OL and DL has been largely, if not completely, ignored. 

 

If they were truly concerned about player safety, they'd be doing something to help the OL and DL and they wouldn't have pushed for that insultingly low settlement with the former players in the concussion lawsuit.  It's all just hypocrisy to the highest degree.

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It absolutely would go a long way towards ensuring the safety of the players.  But that would be an actual concrete solution that the NFL could do, which it doesn't appear that they actually want to do.  All of their "solutions" are lip service to the whole "player safety" mantra.  The only players they are concerned with the safety of are the "skill" or "star" players, such as the QBs and the WRs.  The damage that is done at the line of scrimmage for both the OL and DL has been largely, if not completely, ignored. 

 

If they were truly concerned about player safety, they'd be doing something to help the OL and DL and they wouldn't have pushed for that insultingly low settlement with the former players in the concussion lawsuit.  It's all just hypocrisy to the highest degree.

Good post, simple solution and costs would be reasonable considering primary insurance rules, guess it makes too much sense to happen... 

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Interesting suit, and it brings in the stereotypically treatment in which the player is given whatever drug possible to keep him on the field. I'm curious about how the class is to be defined. "All nfl players?" "All nfl players who were force-fed prescriptions?" These suits are often fought at the class certification stage.

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Yeah they didn't but tough luck right? If NFL didn't make that much money then, whose fault is it? Why are they trying to take advantage of the situation? F... them. Really. O got no respect for these gold diggers. 

LOL  I don't even know what to make of this.

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These players weren't exploited, are you f'ing kidding me? For any given time in history these players played they were paid accordingly. Stop with the eat the rich viewpoint. These players knew what they were doing, and allowed these doctors to treat them so they could play and get paid. By accepting the money for their service establishes an agreement and consent. Those doctors were hired to aid in the players performance and not for their overall health, they knew this. That's why this is a money grab and nothing more.

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Sorry, just can't feel bad for these owners. Most paid shillings for a professional football team that's now worth a billion $s.

Who are these f*cking people? Most are scions that just inherited their money or the team as a whole.

Oh yea, now you have guys like the Seahawks owner from the Microsoft tree, Shaka Khan or whatever the f*ck his name is down in Jacksonville.

Sure, these guys paid huge money but are already of the plus side of the ledger.

Truth is NOTHING happens without the players showing up on Sundays, unless watching Bobby Kraft drink 4 martinis in less than an hour becomes an actual sport.

I love NFL football but it's already been tainted by favoritism for the high profile QBs, that alone makes watching a game involving these guys just a.....wait for it.....wait for it....PI call away from another STUNNING come from behind win.

I get more skeptical every year & every new game I watch.

The next holding call on the Patriots Oline will be the 3rd called in a 16 game schedule. Forget about the playoffs or Superbowl.

But, I do still love what's left of it. I still dream of us landing a franchise QB that no one is allowed to get within 3' of without flags reining down like streamers in a parade.

Our Oline dragging guys down from behind as a our "franchise QB" scans the field for yet another open receiver who gets the benefit of the doubt if the pass is incomplete by just looking at the referee with a disgusted shake of his head, while flags ricochet off of the opposing CBs helmet.

Our day will come Jet fans and we'll scoff at opposing fans thinking the league wants us to win.

Of course we could all be dead by the time Andrew Luck retires.

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