Amid the cheering, hype and clever commercials of the recent Super Bowl, is a slow developing and highly inconvenient situation that provides sober counter-balance to the celebration.
Judge Anita Brody, a U.S. District Court Judge, has just disapproved the $765 million concussion settlement between the NFL and 4,500 former players.
The case is quite complex, and I will be over-simplistic here, but the Judge rejected the settlement on the basis that the award would prove to be woefully inadequate to handle the claims. She also commented on the lack of proof the NFL had given out that there was enough money to properly diagnose and to satisfy the medical needs of the patients.
In an article by Doug Farrar for Sports Illustrated (January 14, 2014), it was stated:
“On Tuesday, Judge Brody denied that preliminary motion, stating in her ruling that she was concerned with a lack of documentation regarding the fairness of the final monetary figure, and whether the players involved would be diagnosed and paid properly based on their claims.”
The point raised the first ethical red flag; the league was not supplying enough information on the claims they received; the $765 million settlement could not be properly judged as being adequate. Indeed, the players union had initially proposed a $2 billion award and it was negotiated down to the $765 million figure. What about future cases?
Big Money for a Big Sport
The retired players who suffer the effects of brain trauma and their families and friends, who must care for them, are obviously frustrated. The negotiated settlement could be a godsend to helping the affected player’s who suffer right here and right now. They need help.
But we had better get a more clear vision of what the future might hold.
First of all, it is not a $765 million settlement to directly help the players, it is $680 million. $75 million of the total award was going towards diagnostic baseline testing of all players and $10 million was going to research and education.
Does the NFL believe that this negotiated settlement will be sufficient to adequately treat everyone who will have dementia stemming from brain trauma? Apparently, they do.
Currently, there are about 1,700 active players in professional football (the number is higher in the pre-season), plus there are many retired players “out there,” above the 4,500 union players who were not a part of the negotiations for any number of reasons.
In fact there is no exact number for all players but it is close to 20,000. Even if 2,500 were facing dementia from brain trauma, given the proposed settlement, it amounts to only $272, 000 per player on average. However, I am again being overly simple. There is a complicated formula in place that pays out different amounts for different conditions and for different ages.
If you, or anyone you know, has had to care for a patient in dementia, you will understand how paltry the sum may be and how difficult a road it is to travel.
The league owes its players. These men built the league with their sweat and blood – and in a true sense, their rational minds.
What is known – what isn’t
The NFL is neither accepting blame for these head trauma cases nor denying it. That fact, in and of itself, shifts the discussion from the realm of lawsuits and finance to one of medicine and ethics – and also, to one of medical ethics.
What is known and what isn’t? What do the team physicians know and the team trainers? What of those who may be involved in research for the NFL itself?
The retired players, those who are suffering from dementia, don’t have the luxury of armchair prognostication. They are suffering and their families are suffering. As they are filled with confusion and rage they are realizing it may have been repeated occupational injury that could have led them to falling into the abyss of dementia.
I could not help but reflect on the $10 million of that settlement to be used for research and education; research and education for what? The amount of money designated for research is pathetic; it is an ethical joke. We are talking about a multi-billion dollar business that needs to take care of its own.
My question to the league is to ask if this research will be an illusion or real science. If it is found that the trauma leads to dementia will facts be known to us? How about to the ex-players and their families? More important, what will you do about it?
Breaking Away
At last report, there were former players who were breaking away to sue the league outside of the settlement. This is potentially a runaway train. If any of these lawsuits are found to have merit, how will that affect the settlement?
There are those who will say, “The players know of the risks going in!” No, they don’t.
And they won’t know until more funding is available for research and more funds are at hand to take care of those who are injured.
The league has had the opportunity to make a lot of money; and a lot more money on top of that as the game now spreads to international markets. They have the opportunity to do the right thing, but will they?
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