NFL News 2016: League Faces New Lawsuit for Football-Related Concussions
The National Football League (NFL) is facing another lawsuit in regards to allegations of concussions related to the game of American football.
In a report by CNN.com, former Detroit Lions defensive end Tracy Scroggins filed a charge against the league, revolving around concussions possibly sustained during his career, which spanned from 1992-2001. Scroggins filed the lawsuit on Friday, where he stated his preliminary diagnosis of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), resulting from repeated head trauma.
The report adds that the lawsuit cited the UCLA researchers who worked on the late Minnesota Vikings linebacker Fred McNeill, where findings showed that the 'abnormal protein' tau was found in the spots in the player's brain where post-mortem CTE has been detected.
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The first complaint filed against the NFL was in June 2015, where former players came together for a class-action lawsuit. A federal judge approved a settlement agreement between the complainants and the league, amounting to $5 million for each retired player for "serious medical conditions associated with repeated head trauma."
For their part, the NFL is expecting for the new lawsuit to be dismissed, noting that Scroggins is not eligible to take things in court.
"He (Scroggins) is eligible to pursue the benefits provided under the settlement agreement but may not pursue any action in court," said NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy.
Last week, the New York Times released a story, ripping on the NFL's "flawed concussion research," comparing the league's handling of the said health crisis to that of the tobacco industry, which was believed to have downplayed the negative effects of cigarette smoking.
In another report by CBS News, the league has demanded for the publication to retract its story, noting how the Times did not "establish meaningful ties" to the tobacco industry, and how the headline of the said article was "false and incendiary."
For their part, the New York Times is not willing to take back the said story.
"We see no reason to retract anything," said Times sports editor Jason Stallman.
