The lead attorney for one of two Supreme Court appeals of the NFL concussion settlement, Deepak Gupta, described news that the late Kevin Turner had CTE and not ALS as a "bombshell" that "thoroughly undercuts what little legitimacy this settlement had." Turner, the named plaintiff in the settlement for those suffering from injuries, had long been diagnosed with ALS until his death earlier this year. ALS is covered under the settlement.
The Boston Univ. Brain CTE Center today announced after an examination of Turner’s brain, he had CTE and not ALS. CTE currently can only be diagnosed post mortem, and it is not covered under the settlement other than for those who were diagnosed with having it prior to the district court approval. “The one thing the settlement had going for it was that it delivered compensation to a player suffering present injury – people with a 'qualifying diagnosis,'” Gupta said. "This means that the one person put forward as a representative for all the players with present injuries isn't even in that category."
Gupta: “Like Ken Stabler, it turns out that Kevin Turner is actually in the group that this settlement leaves out in the cold – players who die with a CTE diagnosis after the settlement. If the settlement doesn't even serve one of the two named representatives, what confidence can anyone have that this is a fair deal?”
