The federal judge in Philadelphia overseeing the NFL's landmark settlement with its former players for concussion-related ailments said that she "found 'sufficient evidence of probable fraud' from those seeking payouts to 'warrant serious concern,'" but she "denied for now a league request to appoint a special investigator to hunt down those gaming the system," according to Jeremy Roebuck of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. U.S. District Judge Anita Brody said that the system set up by the league and lawyers for its 20,000 potentially eligible former players "already included measures to weed out false claims and that it appeared to be 'working effectively.'" However, Brody said that she "might reconsider the issue if the claims administrator or special masters she has appointed to manage the settlement's implementation deemed such a step was necessary." More than $378M so far has "been paid to retirees." Fraud poses a "particular worry to the NFL because the total amount of the settlement is not capped -- meaning that the league must pay any claim determined valid by outside medical examiners." The NFL has "maintained that weeding out the false claims has slowed the process of getting money into the hands of the former players who needed it most" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/19).
CHECK THE STATUS: In Winnipeg, Paul Wiecek notes U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson last week "ruled that she was disallowing class-action status to a lawsuit brought by former NHL players alleging the league didn't do enough to protect players from head injuries and deliberately concealed information about the long-term effects of concussions." She "didn't say concussions don't cause CTE." But the "problem is that what Nelson did say last Friday, in denying class-action status to the former players bringing the suit, now raises serious doubt about whether the players will ever get their day in court." That is "exactly the way" the NHL and Commissioner Gary Bettman "would prefer it remain" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 7/19).
