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    NFL Expected to Ask for Dismissal of Players’ Lawsuit Over Painkillers

    By Mithra Salmassi
    October 2014

    The National Football League (NFL) is expected to request that a lawsuit filed by former players who allege the league illegally supplied them with prescription painkillers be dismissed, ABC News reports.

    The case is scheduled to be heard in San Francisco’s federal court on Thursday morning.

    The players say the drugs numbed their injuries and led to medical complications. Lawyers for the league deny the allegations. They argue the former players waited too long to file suit, citing a two-year statute of limitations for claiming personal injury. Former players who joined the lawsuit said they did not realize the health hazards they faced until recently.

    The lawyers also argued the lawsuit does not specify the damages the players have suffered and does not name who dispensed the painkillers.

    The players say the NFL obtained and administered the painkillers without prescriptions. The league did not warn the players about the drugs’ potential side effects, the lawsuit alleges. The players say the league wanted them to return to the field quickly, in order to maximize profits.

    Some players say they were not told they had broken legs or ankles, and were instead given painkillers. One player said he was given anti-inflammatory medication instead of surgery. The years of free painkillers led to addiction, some players contend.

    The lawsuit states the drugs given to players included painkillers such as Percodan, Percocet and Vicodin, anti-inflammatories such as Toradol, and sleep aids such as Ambien.

    Lawyers for the players are seeking class-action status for former players who received narcotic painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, local anesthetics, sleeping aids or other drugs without a prescription. More than 500 other former players have signed on to the lawsuit. The suit seeks to force the NFL to fund a testing and monitoring program to help prevent addiction, injuries and disabilities resulting from painkiller use. The suit also seeks unspecified financial damages.