lawsuit with thousands of retired football players,
agreeing to pay the plaintiffs $765 million over brain
injuries claims.
Recently, the National Football League (NFL) settled in a major class action brain injury lawsuit with thousands of retired football players, agreeing to pay the plaintiffs $765 million over claims that they had suffered crippling brain injuries due to their years of playing the in the league. While $675 million of this brain injury settlement will be set aside to compensate the plaintiffs, $75 million will go towards paying for medical testing, and $10 million will be set aside for brain injury research and education. Former players who were plaintiffs in this brain injury lawsuit will be compensated according to the severity of their injuries, with some of the largest settlement awards being granted to former players who suffered Lou Gehrig’s disease and degenerative brain conditions.
While some industry insiders have viewed this brain injury settlement as being a positive step forward for the NFL in acknowledging and dealing with the problem of brain injuries affecting players, others think that much more can be done by the league to reduce such devastating brain injuries. These critics cite the following:
- Although the NFL stated in 2010 that it would focus on penalizing players responsible for hitting other players in the neck and head, it has only issued such penalties for two players since 2010 – and this “penalty” only involved a single-game suspension. In one case, the penalized player had five previous documented head and neck hits before he was eventually penalized by the NFL.
- The NFL has not been diligent or proactive about testing players for HGH. Because larger players can do more damage and are, therefore, more likely to cause brain injuries, this kind of testing could limit the number of players causing such devastating brain injuries.
- In a study of former football players’ brains, researchers at Boston University found that about 33 percent of them had a degenerative brain disorder.
St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyers
If you have suffered a brain injury or any type of personal injury, contact the St. Louis personal injury lawyers at Brown & Brown Attorneys at Law. We have a long-standing commitment to serving our clients, and we are experienced at aggressively defending our clients’ rights in any legal setting. Our goal is to preserve and promote the rights and welfare of individuals and families who have suffered injuries and losses and/or who need help navigating through the complexities of the court system.
Since 1993, our lawyers have been successfully representing our clients in various areas of personal injury litigation, including brain injury lawsuits. Our unwavering dedication to the pursuit of justice in every case we handle means that we will work relentlessly to help our clients achieve the best possible outcomes to their cases. One of our primary goals is to help accident victims secure the maximum possible compensation for their injuries and losses so they can focus on their recovery and moving on with their lives. For a free initial consult, email us using the form at the right-hand side of the screen and/or to call us at 573-333-3333 for our Missouri office or at 618-888-8888 for our Illinois office.
