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SPORTS Wednesday 8 May 2019
NFL concussion fund pays out $485M, but legal fights resume

By MARYCLAIRE DALE ing to the doctors they from the program aren't
Associated Press wanted to," Locks argued. counted, according to
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The He said there are at least players lawyer David Bu-
NFL concussion fund has 30 different subspecialties chanan.
paid out nearly $500 mil- of neurology, only a few of If someone wants to travel
lion in its first two years, but them well-suited to evalu- "to see a world-renowned
some players' lawyers say ate his clients. physician, or a world-re-
there aren't enough doc- Brown acknowledged he's nowned neuropsycholo-
tors in the approved net- still trying to recruit doc- gist, they should have that
work to evaluate dementia tors in some parts of the right," Buchanan said.
claims. country for the program. Lawyers for the NFL moni-
They went to court Tuesday He suggested Brody adopt tored the hearing but did
to oppose a rule to require the 150-mile (241-kilometer) not take part in Tuesday's
retired players to be tested rule but allow him to grant arguments.
by doctors within 150 miles exceptions. The settlement, forged in
(241 kilometers) of home to The fund, expected to pay 2013 and later amended,
prevent "doctor shopping" out more than $1 billion offers more than 20,000 re-
and suspected fraud. over 65 years, has paid out tired players baseline test-
Fund administrator Orran $485 million so far, and an- ing and compensation
Brown said ex-players from other $174 million in claims of up to $5 million for the Attorney Gene Locks, who represents many former NFL players,
walks from the federal courthouse in Philadelphia after a hear-
around the country had have been approved, most serious illnesses linked ing, Tuesday, May 7, 2019.
flocked to four doctors now Brown said. to football concussions, Associated Press
dismissed from the program The NFL has appealed including Alzheimer's dis-
who had "high-volume" about 30% of the approved ease, Parkinson's disease, chronic traumatic enceph- and more straightforward
traffic and some suspect claims, but closer to 15% if amyotrophic lateral scle- alopathy, or CTE. — claims were settled in the
findings. the four doctors removed rosis and deaths involving Many of the more serious — first years of the program.q
"We didn't notice it until the
claims were coming in,"
Brown said. "Forty-six million
dollars went out the door
on these claims before we
could flag it."
Retired players can seek
awards of as much as $3
million for moderate de-
mentia and $1.5 million for
mild dementia, although
most men would get far
less based on their age and
years in the league. The set-
tlement resolves thousands
of lawsuits that alleged the
NFL long hid what it knew
about the risk of concus-
sions.
Senior U.S. District Judge
Anita Brody, who has over-
seen the case since 2011,
suggested the travel limit is
needed to prevent abuse.
"A few were brought to my
attention where we had a
lawyer from Pennsylvania
and a player from Florida
going to a doctor in Texas.
And that was a red flag,"
Brody said.
Philadelphia lawyer Gene
Locks, who represents some
1,100 retired players, urged
Brody not to adopt the rule,
saying his clients agreed
to the settlement believ-
ing they could choose their
own doctors.
"They had bad experi-
ences with the NFL benefit
program, both during their
playing time and after their
playing time, when they
felt they were used and
abused, and were not go-