Another summer, another class-action lawsuit against the NFL

[Porky]

...eight former NFL players—Richard Dent, Jim McMahon, Jeremy Newberry, Roy Green, J.D. Hill, Keith Van Horne, Ron Stone, and Ron Pritchard—filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the NFL supplied them with illegally prescribed painkillers throughout their careers, which led to medical complications such as addiction later in life.

Specifically, the players are alleging:

1. The NFL illegally and unethically supplied players serious pain medications, including addictive opioids, and NSAIDs such as torodol.

2. The NFL did so for financial gain, in order to keep them in competition rather than allowing them to rest and heal.

3. The NFL “fraudulently concealed” the dangerous side effects of the drugs from players.

3. The illegal prescription of these painkillers has led to dangerous medical conditions later in life, including painkiller addiction, stage 3 renal failure and high blood pressure.

More than 500 other former players have signed on to the lawsuit, which was filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, according to lawyers representing the former athletes. They are looking to make the case a class action lawsuit.

“Named Plaintiff Jeremy Newberry received hundreds of Toradol injections over the course of his career and for many games, would receive as many as five or six injections of other medications during the course of a game. He also would receive Vicodin before, during and after games to numb pain and often during a game would simply ask a trainer for medications, which would be provided without record as to who was receiving what.”

“While playing in the NFL, Mr. Hill received hundreds, if not thousands, of pills from trainers and doctors, including but not limited to NSAIDs, Codeine, Valium and Librium. No one from the NFL ever talked to him about the side effects of the medications he was being given or cocktailing. He left the League addicted to painkillers, which he was forced to purchase on the streets to deal with his football-related pain, a path that led him to other street medications. He eventually became homeless and was in and out of 15 drug treatment centers for a period of over 20 years until overcoming his NFL-sponsored drug addiction.”

"Mr. Green, who received hundreds of NSAIDs (which can cause kidney damage) from NFL doctors and trainers, had tests performed on him while he played in the NFL that showed he had high creatinine levels, indicative of a limitation on his kidney function. No one from the NFL ever told him of those findings. In November 2012, he had a kidney transplant."

Gotta love the use of the term street medications lol.

Linky Poo

 

[kiwitexansfan]

Always liked the way Keith Van Horne wore his socks.

 

[Playoffs]

Pain Is Just Part of the Game in the NFL
By Matt Bowen

...Part of that belief in immortality is associated with pain meds from my perspective.

You take them before the game, get shot up at halftime and use them throughout the week because, well, nothing can ever knock you down.

And even though you know it’s unhealthy, you do it for a short period of your life (in a part-time gig) to stay on that field.
...

Could I (or any other former player) have prevented some post-career issues by recognizing injuries and treating them with more care than waiting in line to get a shot 45 minutes before a game?

Probably so.

And I have no problem admitting that some of the stuff I did in terms of pain management (or coming back into the game with a concussion) was just flat-out stupid.
...

I only played seven seasons. Just think of the guys who played for a decade—or longer—in terms of the pain they have to work with.

But the question every player has to ask when he is done: Does he have any regrets from playing ball, dealing with the pain and masking injuries to get back on that field?

Well, I really don’t have any regrets. And I would do it all over again—because the risks (and the pain) were worth it.

 

[EllisUnit]

Pretty sure it was these guys choice whether to take the pills. Just another case of guys blowing through their money or not thinking about life after sports and looking to make an easy buck. Pathetic

 

[infantrycak]

Pretty sure it was these guys choice whether to take the pills. Just another case of guys blowing through their money or not thinking about life after sports and looking to make an easy buck. Pathetic

You're missing the entire point and crux of the suit by leaving out one word - informed.

Guy tells you there is a 1 in a million chance of dying v. a 1 in 10 chance, it makes a little difference in the "choice" to most people.

 

[Playoffs]

Report: DEA investigating NFL prescription drug usage

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s probe began after attorneys representing about 1,300 NFL retirees filed a lawsuit accusing the league of illegally handing out painkillers, sleeping pills and other drugs without informing players of the risks of health problems and addiction...