NFL Hit With Another Concussion Lawsuit

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On Wednesday November 11, 2015, the son of former professional football player Art DeCarlo brought a wrongful death suit against the National Football League in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of his father’s estate. The son chose to file an individual suit rather than participate in the contested concussion settlement agreement reached between the NFL and former players for more than $765 million. That settlement is still waiting approval on appeal.

According to the complaint, DeCarlo played in the NFL from 1953 to 1961 and passed away in 2013 after struggling with dementia and other brain-related trauma for the last few decades. Upon his death, DeCarlo was posthumously diagnosed with CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is brought about primarily from repeated concussive and sub-concussive head injuries. CTE can only be diagnosed after examining an individual’s brain after death.

The complaint alleges that the NFL was aware of concussions and the dangers of head injuries in football both before and during DeCarlo’s playing career, citing a handful of published articles in medical journals on the subject from as early as the 1920s. The complaint also references other warnings of the dangers of concussions in sports, including the 1933 NCAA handbook and a 1937 report from the American Football Coaches Association.

Further, since DeCarlo last played before the first collective bargaining agreement signed between the NFL and the NFL’s Players Association in 1968, it’s argued that the NFL owed a specific duty to DeCarlo, because of its position as head of professional football, to warn players of the potential dangers and risks of concussions and head trauma. A position, which the complaint alleges, that allowed the NFL to deny, or at least fail to disclose, the true risks of concussions in football up until the current wave of concussion litigation hit.

The family is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as a result of the NFL’s alleged negligence and fraud to its former player over a half-century ago.

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