NHL sued over failure to protect players from concussion
Class-action lawsuit says many former stars are now suffering from debilitating head injuries
Ten former National Hockey League players, including All-Star forward Gary Leeman, claimed in a class-action lawsuit that the league hasn’t done enough to protect players from concussion.
The lawsuit seeks damages and court-approved, NHL-sponsored medical monitoring for the players’ brain trauma and/or injuries, which they blame on their NHL careers. It was filed in federal court in Washington on behalf of players who retired on or before February 14 of this year and have suffered such injuries.
The suit comes just three months after the National Football League agreed to pay US$765 million to settle lawsuits from thousands of former players who developed dementia or other concussion-related health problems – and in an era when more attention is being paid to the damages of head injuries sustained in sports.
Hopefully this lawsuit will shine a light on the problem and the players will get the help they deserve
Among other things, the suit claims that:
1/ The NHL knew or should have known about scientific evidence that players who sustain repeated head injuries are at greater risk for illnesses and disabilities both during their hockey careers and later in life.
2/ Even after the NHL created a concussion programme to study brain injuries affecting NHL players in 1997, the league took no action to reduce the number and severity of concussions during a study period from 1997 to 2004. “Plaintiffs relied on the NHL’s silence to their detriment,” the suit says.
3/ The league didn’t do anything to protect players from unnecessary harm until 2010, when it made it a penalty to target a player’s head.