Ex-49er in class action lawsuit against NFL

[ChrisW]

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Ex-49er In Class Action Suit Against NFL For ‘Culture Of Drug Misuse, Substituting Players’ Health For Profit’
By Dennis O'DonnellMay 20, 2014 10:14 AM
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Center Jeremy Newberry #62 seen during the 2005 season with the 49ers. (Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

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Dennis O'Donnell
Dennis O’Donnell is the Sports Director at KPIX 5. He has received...
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Former 49ers Pro Bowl center Jeremy Newberry has joined other former football stars Richard Dent, Jim McMahon and Roy Green in filing a class-action lawsuit against the National Football League alleging illegal and rampant misuse of pain-killing medications that led to debilitating injuries and long-term health problems.

The suit was also filed on behalf of “hundreds” of additional former players Tuesday in San Francisco Federal Court.

• John Madden: NFL Pain-Killing Drug Culture Extends To Announcing Booth

In a copy of the lawsuit obtained by KPIX 5, the players allege the misuse of pain-killing pills and injections – without a doctor’s prescription or explanation of side effects – were necessary to keep players on the field and helped turn the NFL into a billion-dollar empire.

• Download the full lawsuit complaint (.pdf)

“We have not seen the lawsuit and our attorneys have not had an opportunity to review it,” said Brian McCarthy, Vice President of Communications for the National Football League.

According to the lawsuit, “…the NFL has intentionally, recklessly, and negligently developed a culture of drug misuse, substituting players’ health for profit.” The players seek financial compensation for the long-term chronic injuries, financial losses and long-term health care for future problems they will suffer.

Newberry, who also spent a season with the Oakland Raiders, was a two-time Pro Bowl center for the San Francisco 49ers who played 11 seasons in the NFL, nine in San Francisco. He has also worked as an NFL analyst for KPIX 5 in San Francisco. After years of taking the pain-killing drug Toradol, the 38-year-old Newberry says his kidneys function at 30 percent. He says nobody ever warned him about the long-term consequences of pain killers.

“A lot of times team trainers were giving out drugs, none of them have a medical degree,” said Newberry. “Some of them aren’t even licensed and they’re handing out drugs. They’re handing out anti-inflammatory. They’re handing out pain killers. They’re handing out sleeping pills. They’re handing out this stuff all together.”



Newberry and the other former players are also seeking changes in the way the NFL distributes pain killing drugs, including Toradol, an anti-inflammatory drug that is most commonly used in emergency rooms and post-operation wards to help patients manage pain. Newberry claims Toradol was taken by “half the team” just before kick-off.

“The Toradol line was crazy,” Newberry said. “The general public wouldn’t believe. It’s almost like a cattle call when you have 20 to 25 guys standing with their pants half down, waiting in line for a doctor who’s got a hundred different syringes lined up and you walk through, they’re sticking you one at a time, you walk in and out, takes all of a couple seconds, they’ve got the needles pre-loaded and they’re shooting up half the team in some cases.”

Newberry said he wanted to be a part of the lawsuit to help promote change in the NFL culture that he says relies too heavily on forcing players to mask pain to play football.

“If I don’t voice my opinion, if I don’t stand up for what’s right, and I know that the drug culture is not right and I know that the way they administer the drugs isn’t right and I’ve got nephews that play football and I’ve got little guys that are coming up, my son, if he happens to play football, if I don’t do something to change this game and it happens to them, shame on me,” Newberry said.

The lawsuit is the second in recent years accusing the NFL of medical misconduct. In August of 2013, the league and former players reached a $765 million settlement stemming from a concussion lawsuit. Earlier this year, a U.S. District Judge rejected the initial settlement “fearing the sum may not be enough to cover injured players.”

 

[SierraRam]

Good God... I heard this on Jim Rome today. I'm guessing we all knew about the steroids, but the extent of this negligence is shocking.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Toradol! Toradol!

Man I have fond memories of that stuff. Not because of the high it gives you but because of how good it kills pain. I laid in a hospital bed from Thursday night to Monday morning with my neck swollen nearly as big as my head. I had a soft tissue infection in my neck called a Phlegmon. The Primary care doctors ignored the specialists recommendation and treated me for the wrong thing. I spent 4 nights flat on my back in agonizing pain. They kept giving me Percoset which wasn't touching the pain, but gave me the most screwed up dreams I ever had. Then on Monday morning after I started flipping out on the Doctors for treating me for meningitis (something I had several times and knew the symptoms didn't match, and the spinal tap results were negative for), some Doctor thought to read the ENT docs notes and changed the antibiotic and treat the pain with Toradol. When that stuff hit the veins it was instant relief. I was so happy I cried. The relief was so instant and complete. It is a very strong anti inflammatory. The sad part is that they said it is dangerous and had to limit it to every 12 hours max....and it wore off in about 6 hours.

strange that the hospitals consider it to be dangerous yet the NFL passed it out like Candy on Halloween.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

BTW they give Toradol for kidney stones. If you ever had one you know how painful they can be. One shot of Toradol and you walk out feeling fine and have no trouble pissing the jaggy little bugger out in a few hours.

 

[fearsomefour]

I don't think this is a surprise at all.
This is part of every sport. People like to forget that Farve was hooked on pills. To take the pounding these guys take even in the late 20s is just brutal.
It's a business. Even at the college level.
They don't care about you other than you are a piece of the puzzle to get wins and make the team money. Get injured badly enough and you are gone....have a nice life kid.

 

[Tron]

Both sides fault in my eyes.

 

[Pancake]

The NFL was wrong for handing these drugs out like that for the sake of profit. A bunch of greedy and evil bastards for sure. But ya know. The players could have walked away from the fame and money. Probably 99% of them have college educations to fall back on. And how can these guys with a college degree sit there and tell us all they didn't have clue what they were doing was bad for their health? I sympathize with them but at the same time I have to call bullshit.

 

[Stranger]

“We have not seen the lawsuit and our attorneys have not had an opportunity to review it,” said Brian McCarthy, Vice President of Communications for the National Football League.

Freak you !!!

Here's the real NFL, not the PR bs-machine that we're typically fed.

 

[Stranger]

The NFL was wrong for handing these drugs out like that for the sake of profit. A bunch of greedy and evil bastards for sure. But ya know. The players could have walked away from the fame and money. Probably 99% of them have college educations to fall back on. And how can these guys with a college degree sit there and tell us all they didn't have clue what they were doing was bad for their health? I sympathize with them but at the same time I have to call bullcrap.

So, it's the girl's fault for wearing sexy clothes which lead to her getting raped? Is that the argument?

 

[Pancake]

So, it's the girl's fault for wearing sexy clothes which lead to her getting raped? Is that the argument?

I don't think it's the same thing. These guys were not physically forced against their will to do anything. They stood in a line and allowed themselves to be injected.

 

[Tron]

So, it's the girl's fault for wearing sexy clothes which lead to her getting raped? Is that the argument?

Did she knowingly take the clothes from someone that she knew legally could not give them to her? And that if she wore them her chances of rape would increase 100x? And then still wore them knowing all of that?

Not a close comparison stranger.

 

[Stranger]

I don't think it's the same thing. These guys were not physically forced against their will to do anything. They stood in a line and allowed themselves to be injected.

u don't think there isn't pressure to perform in the NFL?

 

[Stranger]

Did she knowingly take the clothes from someone that she knew legally could not give them to her? And that if she wore them her chances of rape would increase 100x? And then still wore them knowing all of that?

Not a close comparison stranger.

so, the girl should have walked out of the bar and gone to a restaurant because men were acting inapropriately towards her?

this seems to me to be an attempt to put blame on the victim here, and it's not going to fly. are the players supposed to be experts in medicine and pharmaceuticals?

 

[Pancake]

u don't think there isn't pressure to perform in the NFL?

I do think there is pressure but I also think these guys had a choice. Rape victims don't have a choice.

 

[Tron]

so, the girl should have walked out of the bar and gone to a restaurant because men were acting inapropriately towards her?

this seems to me to be an attempt to put blame on the victim here, and it's not going to fly. are the players supposed to be experts in medicine and pharmaceuticals?

Your comparison is still not a good one in my eyes, apples and oranges big time. As i stated before, its both the players, and the staffers who gave them the drugs fault.

So if your work is giving out drugs illegally to all its employees to make them work better, you are just going to take them and not ask questions or care if they can do that or not?

You make it seem like the players are 100% innocent in this, and that to me, is not going to fly.

Were the players not allowed to ask questions? Could they not ask questions to people in the medical field outside of work? Could they not say no to taking a bunch of drugs they knew they werent supposed to be given?

Neither party is innocent. The nfl staffers should get in trouble though and have to pay something since they were supposed to have the players health in their best interest, not points and ahit, but the nfl is a business and they treat it like one. Doesnt excuse players from blindly taking massive amounts of drugs that no person with common sense wouldnt stop and question.

 

[Thordaddy]

So, it's the girl's fault for wearing sexy clothes which lead to her getting raped? Is that the argument?

I think that's pure hyperbole,it might be like hookers standing in line because getting gang raped paid well

 

[Thordaddy]

The NFL was wrong for handing these drugs out like that for the sake of profit. A bunch of greedy and evil bastards for sure. But ya know. The players could have walked away from the fame and money. Probably 99% of them have college educations to fall back on. And how can these guys with a college degree sit there and tell us all they didn't have clue what they were doing was bad for their health? I sympathize with them but at the same time I have to call bullcrap.

So it was greedy evil bastards and stupid greedy bastards?

 

[Stranger]

I think that's pure hyperbole,it might be like hookers standing in line because getting gang raped paid well

i dare u to show your post to your wife... I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that one

So, the argument is that their existing profession and their amount of pay excuses the behavior of the gang rapests?

 

[Stranger]

Your comparison is still not a good one in my eyes, apples and oranges big time. As i stated before, its both the players, and the staffers who gave them the drugs fault.

So if your work is giving out drugs illegally to all its employees to make them work better, you are just going to take them and not ask questions or care if they can do that or not?

You make it seem like the players are 100% innocent in this, and that to me, is not going to fly.

Were the players not allowed to ask questions? Could they not ask questions to people in the medical field outside of work? Could they not say no to taking a bunch of drugs they knew they werent supposed to be given?

Neither party is innocent. The nfl staffers should get in trouble though and have to pay something since they were supposed to have the players health in their best interest, not points and ahit, but the nfl is a business and they treat it like one. Doesnt excuse players from blindly taking massive amounts of drugs that no person with common sense wouldnt stop and question.

the NFL acted outside criminal law. did the players?

 

[LesBaker]

the NFL acted outside criminal law. did the players?

Yes of course they did, they took federally controlled medication without prescriptions.

To me this is as silly as when the Feds bust a "wellness clinic" and the guys running it get huge fines and jail time but the pro athletes spending 20-120K don't even get a lecture when they broke federal laws as well.

Clearly both sides should share the blame IMO. This is something that has to be done on a case by case basis though, not class action. There are WAY to many variables from player to player, injury to injury, contract situations, early in a career versus late and a lot of other things that have to be taken into account. This cannot all be lumped in together.