Under the proposed class action settlement, the NCAA will fund a $70 million pool of money to pay for former college athletes to undergo testing to determine whether they have brain injuries.  The settlement will also have the NCAA set mandated “return to play” policy that all schools must follow instead of letting each school have its own policy.  This would obviously help protect athletes in the future.

The settlement does not pay the athletes any damages for their concussions.  Instead, the athletes would still have to sue their former schools or other parties to recover those damages.  The test results that the NCAA is funding might be able to play a part in the eventual lawsuits.

This settlement is a long way from being final.  It has to be approved by a judge and there are a number of people who intend to object to the settlement on various grounds.  We’ll try to keep you posted because I think these type of developments are crucial to bringing public light to head injuries and they also help lead to better protocol for all levels of sports, not just colleges.

Here’s an ESPN news story about the settlement.

The NFL was mostly known for the caliber of its players. Now, it is known for hiding the risks of athletes sustaining multiple head injuries while scrimmaging on the field, head injuries that resulted in traumatic brain injury (TBI), also referred to as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

It was a large settlement, and one that was hailed as progress for those who sued the NFL for negligently withholding information about the risks of multiple head traumas. However, this is not the end of the issue. While the out-of-court settlement did pay out a large sum, it also managed to keep exculpatory documentation out of court. It also meant no one heard what witnesses had to say.

Down the line, every sport that involves full-body contact of some kind, will, without a doubt, face the same or similar concussion litigation. It is not beyond reason to anticipate that the NHL, NBA, MLB, and the NCAA may face such lawsuits. In fact, the NCAA is already facing down a massive TBI lawsuit.

TBI litigation began with the NFL. It is now making its presence felt with lawsuits filed by survivors of hockey players who took their own lives as a result of CTE. A case in point is that of 28-year-old Derek Boogaard’s family launching a wrongful death lawsuit alleging the NHL is responsible for his brain trauma and addiction to pain drugs. The defendants in that suit are the NHL, its Board of Governors and well-known league commissioner, Gary Bettman.
If the attorney handling that case is able to prove that the NHL was negligent in the way they treated Boogaard in relation to handing out painkillers and encouraging him to fight, sustaining multiple head injuries, the case stands a chance of opening the floodgates of litigation for other similar lawsuits. There is also the possibility of an extremely large award for damages.

What may tell the tale of success is the evidence in the complaint that includes, but is not limited to, the fact that NHL staff and doctors allegedly wrote him prescriptions for 432 pills of hydrocodone in one month, injected him 13 times with a pain masking drug, wrote him further prescriptions for 1,021 pain pills and encouraged him, in his role of enforcer, to instigate 66 fights over 277 games, sustaining multiple head injuries. His autopsy showed he had Stage II CTE.

The CTE revelation and Boogaard’s treatment are strikingly similar to how many of the NFL players were treated. Should Boogaard’s wrongful death lawsuit be successful, watch for more lawsuits of a similar nature filed against other leagues.

Perlmutter & Schuelke, LLP is one of the premier trial firms in Austin Texas. Contact a personal injury lawyer by calling 512-476-4944 or learn more at http://www.civtrial.com/.

But earlier this week, I also saw a story this week that reminded me about the legal nature of football.   It seems the parents of a Frostburg State University football player who died as a result of head injuries has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the head coach, the player’s helmet manufacturer and the NCAA.  The lawsuit alleges that the school’s practices required players to repeatedly engage in a drill that involved nearly non-stop, head to head collisions.  The suit alleges that this several players suffered concussions in this drill.

While football is a naturally violent game, we’re likely to see more of these lawsuits as we learn more about the nature of football-related head injuries.  Hopefully the increased publicity surrounding head injuries in football will lead to manufacturers making better helmets and coaches and medical staff being more cautious with athletes who have experienced concussions.  While you can’t ever get rid of head injuries, these type of things will help reduce their incidence and severity.