Judge Won’t Toss NFL Teams Painkiller Class Action

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A California federal judge has refused to toss a new proposed class action lawsuit filed by 1,500 former pro football players who claim NFL staff members regularly dispensed painkillers “as if they were candy” to players with no regard for their health.

Denying allegations they intentionally misled players while dispensing the painkillers, the NFL motioned to dismiss the case, which names all 32 club franchises as defendants instead of the league.

The NFL argued that the former players filed the lawsuit after the three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims expired.

But U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup denied the NFL teams motion to dismiss the case, finding the claims were neither time-barred nor preempted, allowing the class action lawsuit to advanced to the discovery phase.

In refusing to dismiss the case, Judge Alsup noted the new lawsuit alleges the NFL’s conduct was “intentional,” as opposed to “negligent,” and therefore unlawful. “These answers misrepresented the actual health dangers posed by these drugs,” the judge added.

This new lawsuit reprises some of the allegations made in a federal lawsuit last year on behalf of 1,300 former players against the NFL.

That complaint, filed in May 2014 was dismissed by Judge Alsup in December who stated that the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association was the appropriate setting to resolve such claims and not the courts.

That decision is currently under appeal in the Ninth Circuit.

In this new class action, however, each of the NFL’s 32 teams are named individually as defendants and a new group of thirteen former players, including Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame defensive back Mel Renfro and Etopia Evans, and the widow of former Minnesota Vikings running back and Baltimore Ravens fullback Chuck Evans, who died of heart failure in October 2008 at age 41.

Other prominent players who have joined the NFL painkillers class action lawsuit are Marcellus Wiley, Jim McMahon, Richard Dent, Keith Van Horne and Jeremy Newberry.

The former players all contend NFL teams and their medical staffs withheld information from players about the nature and seriousness of their injuries, while at the same time handing out prescription painkillers, anti-inflammatories and other dangerous drugs to mask pain and get them back on the playing field.

Among other claims, the players contend prescriptions such as Percodan, Percocet and Vicodin, anti-inflammatories such as Toradol, and sleep aids such as Ambien were filled out in their names without their knowledge.

“When asked about side effects of medications, club doctors and trainers responded, ‘none,’ ‘don’t worry about them,’ ‘not much,’ ‘they are good for you,’ or, in the case of injections, ‘maybe some bruising,'” Alsup wrote, referring to what he called the “well-pled facts” of the players’ previous claim.

The new lawsuit also claims that several former head coaches and assistants — among them, Don Shula, Howard Schnellenberger, Wayne Fontes, Mike Holmgren and Mike Tice — warned players they would be cut from their teams unless they took painkillers and returned to the field.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steven D. Silverman, Alexander Williams, William N. Sinclair, Stephen G. Grygiel and Joseph F. Murphy Jr. of Silverman Thompson Slutkin White LLC.

The NFL Painkillers Class Action Lawsuit is Evans, et al. v. Arizona Cardinals Football Club LLC, et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-01030, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.