A Long Way from Being Over

Furthermore, the concussions problems for football are a long way from being over.  It may just be the beginning with a sustained wave of future lawsuits, additional stories, and demands for fundamental changes in how football is played, at the earliest times and levels: Pop Warner leagues, middle and high school, college all the way to the NFL.  Although the three-quarters of a billion dollar settlement suppresses discovery into the aspects of the suit, other pressures will clearly pave the way for further research into the long-term effects of brain damage from repeated blows to the head.

 

NFL Players File Separate Lawsuit

Although the NFL would prefer it, the matter is not settled since several days later,  four other former NFL players filed a separate lawsuit against the NFL.

Subsequent information indicated that older players might not actually participate in the settlement, especially older players and those who died before 2006, even if their brains demonstrated changes of either Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Furthermore, newer information was that possibly legal fees WOULD come out of the settlement.

NFL Concussion Settlement

On August 29, 2013, Federal District Judge Anita Brody approved a settlement between the NFL and more than 2000 former NFL payers amounting to $765 million:

According to the agreement, the NFL will pay $675 million to players and their families according to an agreed-upon schedule. Forbes Magazine broke the remainder down as follows:

In addition to the monetary relief provided to the players and their families, the NFL and NFL Properties will make the following payments:

  • No more than $75 million for baseline medical exams;
  • $10 million for a research and education fund;
  • No more than $4 million to pay for the costs of notice to the members of the class of plaintiffs;
  • $2 million representing one-half of the compensation of the Settlement Administrator; and
  • Legal fees and litigation expenses to the plaintiffs’ counsel (to be determined by the court).

 

Concussions in the NFL

Below are links to some recent articles addressing the ongoing issue of concussions among NFL players.

NFL Reports Remain Inconsistent

NFL’s Progress on Concussions Blurred by Inconsistencies

NFL Concussions: The 2012-2013 Season in Review

NFL Looks to Helmet Technology to Combat Concussions

The NFL Teams Up With GE on Concussion Technology

Why Philadelphia Court Should Toss NFL Concussion Lawsuit

The NFL’s CTE Clock is Beginning to Click in Real Time

Bad Brains: The NFL and its Concussion Crisis

Game Change: Brain Scans Offer New View of NFL Concussions

 

 

 

NFL Responds to Player Lawsuits

In response to the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) supported mega-suit discussed in a previous blog post, the NFL released a statement: “Our legal team will review today’s filing that is intended to consolidate plaintiffs’ existing claims into one ‘master’ complaint,” The statement went on to read, “the NFL has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so. Any allegation that the NFL sought to mislead players has no merit. It stands in contrast to the league’s many actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions.”  The NFL then filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuits, including the mega-suit, and the players countered, in a brief filed in US District Court, by disputing efforts by the NFL to frame the cases as a labor issue. Their argument was that the legal system, rather than the sport’s collective bargaining agreements, should govern this exceptional case.

Players Accuse NFL in Mega-Suit

With growing concern over the long-term effects of concussions and mTBI sustained by NFL players, as of May 25, 2012, eighty-one lawsuits had been filed with 2,138 former NFL players as plaintiffs, and 3,356 plaintiffs that included players, their spouses and other relatives. On June 7, 2012 a mega-suit, bringing these and others together, was filed in US District Court. The mega-suit stated that “after voluntarily assuming a duty to investigate, study, and truthfully report to the public and NFL players, including the Plaintiffs, the medical risks associated with MTBI in football, the NFL instead produced industry-funded, biased, and falsified research that falsely claimed that concussive and sub-concussive head impacts in football do not present serious, life-altering risks.” 

In response, the NFL released statements about many health programs run by the NFL for current and former players, along with medical benefits available to former players, including joint and traumatic arthritic-related programs such as joint replacement, and neurological evaluations and spine treatment programs. In addition, the NFL provides assisted-living partnerships, long-term care insurance, prescription benefits, life insurance programs, and a Medicare supplement program. The Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, created by the NFL in 1994, recently published a general neurologic medicine article on Medscape entitled Repetitive Head Injury Syndrome.