Judge orders NFL to reveal its secrets about concussions

A New York state judge is forcing the NFL to reveal something it has desperately tried to keep secret: how the league’s medical officials handled the issue of brain injuries during the last two decades.

On Monday, New York state Supreme Court Judge Jeffrey K. Oing issued an order that will let insurance companies that wrote policies for the NFL determine whether the league deliberately knew about the dangers of concussions and concealed them from players. The issue is central to whether the insurers will pay for a class-action settlement brought by more than 5,000 retired players who accused the league of fraud and negligence because they were not told about the risks of repeated head hits.

The league is likely to appeal Oing’s ruling.

The settlement, which covers all retirees except for a few dozen players who have opted out, was completed but is under appeal. The NFL has agreed to pay an unlimited amount of damages to players who have been found to have severe neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and pay for medical monitoring. Meanwhile, the grim list of football players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, continues to grow.

The estimated costs of the settlement could reach $1 billion.

The settlement was reached in August 2013, before plaintiffs’ lawyers could depose witnesses and look through the NFL’s records to determine whether fraud or negligence had been committed.

The NFL asked the 30 or so insurers who wrote policies for the league dating to the late 1960s to pay for the settlement, as well as cover its legal costs.

The insurers, though, refuse to pay because they have been unable to determine whether the league committed fraud, something that they feel would absolve them of any responsibility to pay out.

The insurers declined to comment on the judge’s ruling Monday. The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oing delayed ruling on the case while the settlement was being completed. In a last-ditch effort, players objecting to the settlement have appealed to the Supreme Court. Legal experts consider the appeal a long shot, which is why Oing resumed hearing arguments in the insurance case.

This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Judge orders NFL to reveal its secrets about concussions."