March 18, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
For years, the NFL has refuted evidence that there was a connection between football and the degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). However, at a recent Congressional hearing involving experts on CTE, Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety policy, acknowledged that there is a link. Faced with evidence from Boston University Neuropathologist, Ann McKee, and asked whether or not there was a link between football and degenerative brain disorders like CTE, Miller’s response was “certainly, yes.” His response is a complete reversal for the NFL, which, up until this point, has been accused by former players of having hid the dangers of head injuries from them for years. Some likened Miller’s admission to twenty years ago when tobacco companies confessed that smoking can cause cancer and heart disease. Attorneys for former NFL players hope Miller’s statement will lead to compensation for all players diagnosed with CTE now and in the future, instead of just former players diagnosed before the current settlement was approved a year ago.
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The Feeney Law Firm is committed to seeking justice for those affected by NFL Concussions. Fighting to keep people safe from corporate greed and self-interest is our passion. We are here to help make that process as simple as possible for you and your family. Call us now at 1-800-341-1577 for your FREE consultation. Visit our NFL concussion settlement page for additional details about the NFL concussion settlement. Don’t wait; your time to file a NFL Concussion claim may be limited.
Supreme Court Asked to Reject NFL Concussion Settlement
October 3, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
Now a second group of former NFL players have petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to reject the $1 billion settlement agreement reached between former players and the NFL. The most recent group of players to petition the Supreme Court argue that the agreement treats current brain injuries differently than future injuries and is unfair to those who may be diagnosed with CTE in the future. Proponents of the settlement agreement have been given until November to file an opposition to the petition, meaning the justices may not make a decision until late this year. Unfortunately this means that any disbursements from the settlement agreement will be delayed until all appeals are exhausted.
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NFL to Launch $100 Million Concussion Initiative
September 15, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
The NFL is launching a $100 million concussion initiative in the hopes of improving player safety. $60 million will go towards technological development, in part to try and improve helmets for players while the other $40 million will go to funding medical research on the effects of head injuries. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he thinks the new initiative will help make the game safer for the players. While Goodell says he knows there will be a degree of skepticism concerning the league’s efforts related to head injuries, he hopes that sharing the results of the initiative’s research with the public will show that the NFL is committed to player safety.
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Potential for One More Appeal in NFL Concussion Case
September 15, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
In the latest NFL concussion news, lawyers representing the estate of former Denver Bronco running back Cookie Gilchrist have petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the appeal of the NFL Concussion Settlement Agreement. This is the last chance to appeal for those who oppose the current settlement agreement. Gilchrist’s lawyers say the categories of retired players in the settlement are insufficient and that some players were not properly represented due to “inadequate discovery.” Even though August 30th was the deadline for asking the Supreme Court to hear the case, lawyers for two other groups of retired players were given an extension until September 19th to file an appeal. While there is only a small chance that the Supreme Court will agree to hear the appeal, no benefits can be distributed until all appeals are exhausted.
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Appellate Court Refuses to Hear Further Arguments
June 8, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
Since the Third Circuit Court of Appeals refused to hear further arguments for altering the NFL Concussion Settlement Agreement, the only avenue left for players to challenge the agreement is the Supreme Court. While it is unlikely that the country’s highest court will agree to hear the case, former players certainly have the right to take their challenge as far as they can. However, it should be noted that funds cannot begin to be paid out until all appeals have been exhausted. This means that former players may have to wait even longer to receive money from the Settlement Agreement.
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Court Denies Hearing Further Arguments on Approved NFL Settlement
June 7, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request by some former players to rehear arguments against the NFL Concussion Settlement Agreement. A group of former players objected to the Settlement Agreement’s treatment of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE, and asked a larger panel of judges to consider hearing further arguments. A one-page decision stated that a majority of Third Circuit Judges were not in favor of rehearing the case. Players hoping to alter the Settlement Agreement can petition the Supreme Court to hear their case, but it is unlikely that Court would do so. Unfortunately, until all appeals are exhausted, no money will be paid out on concussion claims
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Former Players Request Rehearing on Concussion Settlement Approval
April 29, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
The lawyers for several retired NFL players requested the entire Third Circuit Court of Appeals rehear arguments against the NFL Concussion Settlement Agreement. Last week a three-judge panel from the Third Circuit affirmed the approval of the agreement, however this group of players is now asking that a larger group of judges hear their argument. The retired players are still concerned with how chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is treated in the Agreement and would like to the court to hear further arguments. If the court does agree to rehear arguments, it will further delay getting payments to players in need since no money can be paid out until all appeals are exhausted.
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Appellate Court Approves NFL Concussion Settlement
April 19, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s order approving the NFL Concussion Settlement Agreement. While those challenging the agreement are displeased with today’s ruling, proponents of the agreement consider it a step in the right direction in getting much needed financial awards for retired players and their families who are suffering from neurological conditions due to their time playing in the league. This is an important aspect of today’s decision to consider as it may get drowned in the coming days by those who opposed the settlement agreement as it currently stands. As long as there are no further appeals, former players and their families can start applying for and receiving the benefits from the NFL. The reason this entire litigation was started in the first place was to get former players medical and financial benefits. Hopefully that is not lost on the small minority who are unhappy with today’s decision. Our goal from the stat has been to get as much assistance for those former players who are in need of help. Many former players are already suffering from various neurological conditions related to their time spent playing in the NFL, and many more will be diagnosed in the future. We believe the deal currently agreed to will do a lot to ease the financial burden many former players and their families are currently experiencing.
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Appeals Court Upholds $1 Billion NFL Concussion Settlement
April 18, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld Federal District Court Judge Anita Brody’s Order approving the NFL Concussion Settlement. The appellate judges found the settlement “fair” and reasoned that it was “for the greater good of all players.” The three-judge panel sided with Judge Brody on almost all of the major questions before the court. Objectors to the settlement argued that it didn’t do enough for those who would be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the future but the appellate court said that the settlement’s treatment of the symptoms of CTE was “reasonable.”
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Another Study Links Playing Football to Brain Trauma
April 14, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
We just added an additional page to our website concerning a new study done by the director of the Florida Center for Headache and Sports Neurology concerning what some say is the strongest link yet between playing football and trauma to the brain. One striking part of the study that stood out to me was that HALF of the former players in the study had serious problems with everyday functions like reasoning, problem solving, planning and attention. In addition, 45% experienced difficulty with learning and memory. These are tasks human beings are expected to perform all of the time without having to think twice. Because the NFL made the decision to hide the dangers of head injuries from their players, these men are struggling with things that most people take for granted. Some of them may say that had they known the risks they still would make the decision to play, but there was no decision for them to make. The NFL took that away from them when the league decided money was more important than players’ lives.
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Scientists Reveal Strong Link Between Football and Brain Trauma
April 14, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
Dr. Frank Conidi, director of the Florida Center for Headache and Sports Neurology, recently presented a study at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Vancouver that reported some alarming results. Studying images from sophisticated MRI machines, Conidi analyzed the brains of 40 living former NFL players. What he found was that more than 40% of them showed evidence of abnormal brain structures.
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NFL Retirement Plan Denies Former Player Disability Benefits
April 7, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
With billions of dollars in annual revenues, why is the NFL seemingly “nickel and diming” its former players when they apply for disability benefits? 12-year NFL cornerback Charles Dimry is suing the NFL’s retirement plan for denying him disability benefits. Dimry says he suffered two major neck injuries while playing and had to have cervical fusion surgery in 2000 after his playing days were done. With the pain in his neck growing worse, Dimry was unable to “stand or sit for extended periods” and had to endure further surgeries.
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NFL Taking Page from Big Tobacco Playbook?
March 25, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
An investigatory report published by the New York Times shreds the legitimacy of research papers produced by an NFL committee which downplayed the danger of head injuries. While the report chronicles the league’s use of faulty data in its reports (for example, the Dallas Cowboys didn’t report one concussion from 1996-2001, but I think Troy Aikman might disagree with that assessment,) even more interesting is the insight that the NFL shared a number of lobbyists, lawyers, and consultants with Big Tobacco. You might be asking yourself why a professional sport would be entangled with Big Tobacco. Without coming right out and admitting it, I think the Times is trying to get the readers to draw their own conclusion that the NFL borrowed Big Tobacco’s strategy of using questionable science to downplay the danger of its product. Depending on how you interpret the facts in the article, it certainly seems like the NFL could have learned a thing or two from Big Tobacco about dealing with a product crisis, but something tells me I doubt it was during a smoke break.
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NFL’s Flawed Concussion Research
March 25, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
An investigative report done by the New York Times revealed the National Football League’s concussion research was far more flawed than was previously known and that a long relationship existed between the league and Big Tobacco. The report focuses on research done by a committee formed by the NFL in 1994. This committee released numerous research papers that downplayed the danger of head injuries. These research papers all stated the data used in them was a “full accounting of all concussions diagnosed by team physicians from 1996 through 2001.” The NFL stood by the legitimacy of these papers for the past dozen years and argued they were scientific evidence which proved that brain injuries did not cause long-term harm to players. However, information obtained by the Times’ reporters showed that more than 100 diagnosed concussions were left out of the league’s studies and that some teams failed to report even one concussion over this five year span. These omissions had the effect of skewing the NFL’s concussion rate lower than it actually was, making the game appear safer for players.
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Cowboys Owner Says Not Enough Data to Link CTE to Football
March 24, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
On the heels of an NFL executive admitting that there is a link between football and degenerative brain disorders, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys made some comments that seemed to disagree with that assessment. Jerry Jones came out recently and said that he didn’t believe there was enough research or data to link the degenerative brain disease CTE to football. When pressed by a reporter to clarify his view, Jones stated “There’s no data that in any way creates a knowledge. There’s no way that you could have made a comment that there is an association and some type of assertion.”
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Questioning the NFL CTE Admission
March 18, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
The NFL has spent decades trying to discredit evidence that showed a link between playing football and the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE. After years of denial, and untold millions of dollars in marketing to promote the safety of the game to parents of children who play the game, why would the league suddenly reverse course and admit there is a link between football and CTE? The most likely answer is to save itself money in future settlements.
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NFL Executive Acknowledges Link to CTE
March 18, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
For years, the NFL has refuted evidence that there was a connection between football and the degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). However, at a recent Congressional hearing involving experts on CTE, Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety policy, acknowledged that there is a link. Faced with evidence from Boston University Neuropathologist, Ann McKee, and asked whether or not there was a link between football and degenerative brain disorders like CTE, Miller’s response was “certainly, yes.” His response is a complete reversal for the NFL, which, up until this point, has been accused by former players of having hid the dangers of head injuries from them for years. Some likened Miller’s admission to twenty years ago when tobacco companies confessed that smoking can cause cancer and heart disease. Attorneys for former NFL players hope Miller’s statement will lead to compensation for all players diagnosed with CTE now and in the future, instead of just former players diagnosed before the current settlement was approved a year ago.
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NFL Needs to do More after another CTE Diagnosis
February 12, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
When former Oakland Raider quarterback Ken Stabler died in July of 2015 after a battle with colon cancer, he and his family donated his brain and spinal cord to Boston University’s CTE Center. Sadly, Stabler is the most recent deceased NFL player to be diagnosed with CTE. During his playing days Stabler was nicknamed “the Snake” due to his ability to escape defenders. The article claims that there was no way he could escape CTE
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Former NFL Players Screen “Concussion” Movie Together
January 14, 2016 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
A couple of weeks before Christmas, Sports Illustrated brought 70 former NFL players together in Atlanta to watch a screening of the movie “Concussion.” The movie documents the story of pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu and his battle to bring to light his theory that the brain disease CTE is linked to repeated head traumas like those suffered on every play by NFL players. Numerous former players were brought to tears as scenes portraying some of their former colleagues played out on screen. Audible gasps could be heard in the theater when the ages of certain deceased former players were mentioned, none of whom were over the age of 51 at the time of death. Several of these former players are involved in the lawsuit claiming that the NFL hid the risks of concussions from them. One went as far as to say the NFL resembles the tobacco companies in how they tried to cover up the ramifications from head traumas.
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Former Players Appeal NFL Concussion Settlement Agreement
November 19, 2015 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
A group of former NFL players filed an appeal asking the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the NFL concussion settlement agreement because it excludes what they are calling “the signature brain disease of football.” As the agreement stands right now, players diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the future may not be eligible to receive compensation. This could leave thousands of players who have yet to be diagnosed with a neurological disorder without compensation for their injuries.
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Federal Judge Approves NFL Concussion Settlement
April 23, 2015 / by Brett Katsma / NFL Concussion Lawsuits
Federal District Court Judge Anita Brody gave her final approval to a settlement agreement between the NFL and more than 5,000 former players who accused the league of hiding the dangers of concussions from the players. The agreement provides payments to former players who are diagnosed with one of several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimers, ALS (Lou Gerhig’s disease), Dementia, and CTE.
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