Getting
your bell rung for many pro football players is just part of the game.
But a lawsuit filed by 12 former football players against the NFL says
the league endorsed the use of a painkiller called Toradol that could
put people with head injuries at increased risk. Among those filing the
suit is former Pro Bowl receiver Joe Horn, who says the league didn’t do
enough to protect them from concussions. The suit was filed this week
in federal court in New Jersey. The players accuse the league of
negligence, fraud, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation
and conspiracy. Their suit t implicates the way in which the NFL and its
teams distributed Toradol, which the players say exacerbated the
plaintiffs’ “risk of injury.” Toradol is used to reduce inflammation and
body pain. But the suit alleges that teams used the drug to “mask
pain,” which they claim only worsened long-term effects of the players’
various head injuries. An NFL spokesman says any suit that claims the
league “intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit.”
