Ex-players: NFL illegally used drugs

[n2doc]

Source: ESPN/AP

WASHINGTON -- A group of retired NFL players says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the league, thirsty for profits, illegally supplied them with risky narcotics and other painkillers that numbed their injuries for games and led to medical complications down the road.

The league obtained and administered the drugs illegally, without prescriptions and without warning players of their potential side effects, to speed the return of injured players to the field and maximize profits, the lawsuit alleges. Players say they were never told about broken legs and ankles and instead were fed pills to mask the pain. One says that instead of surgery, he was given anti-inflammatories and skipped practices so he could play in money-making games. And others say that after years of free pills from the NFL, they retired from the league addicted to the painkillers.

Steven Silverman, attorney for the players, said the complaint was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, and a copy was shared with The Associated Press ahead of the filing.

The complaint names eight players, including three members of the Super Bowl champion 1985 Chicago Bears: Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Dent, offensive lineman Keith Van Horne, and quarterback Jim McMahon. Lawyers seek class-action status, and they say in the filing that more than 400 other former players have signed on to the lawsuit.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10958191/nfl-illegally-supplied-risky-painkilling-drugs-former-players-allege-suit

[KamaAina]

1. No foolin'.

Hunter Thompson used to hang around the Raiders' training facility back when "Commitment to Excellence" wasn't a punch line. Later he wrote nostalgically of the days when NFL locker rooms were like wholesale drug dispensaries.

[VWolf]

2. In other news, grass is green and the sky is blue n/t

[vkkv]

3. "We should just let private industry regulate itself" - The G.O.P. ( Greed Over People)

Team "Doctors" need some serious oversight.

"We should just let private industry regulate itself"

- The G.O.P. ( Greed Over People)

[bpj62]

4. Jim Otto

The great Raiders center could barely walk after years of injuries. When he was able to have knee replacement surgery the doctor reported finding a thick chalk like substance in the old joint. Turns out it was the cortisone residue from all the shots he took over the years. The Raiders and the Steelers were the 2 bad ass teams in the AFC in the seventies and they also have had multiple players die at young ages from various illnesses.

[maindawg]

5. The Steelers and Raiders

were all juicing with the team doctors. I think the Steelers doc has some legal issues concerning this issue.Most teams probably did it to some extent. These guys are talking about narcotics.
Many players deal with severe health issues. I still believe the best way for the league to deal with the lingering health effects, is to take a billion dollars and build their own state of the art medical center that specializes in trauma and other long term health issues of the players. I cant believe no one talks about this.

[melm00se]

6. I know of at least one

team where the staff was afraid to go into the locker room with the players on game days as they were all jacked up on steroids and other drugs that they were a danger to the staff.