The NFL’s concussion litigation is over. The NFL’s insurance litigation regarding the concussion cases isn’t.
The league and its insurance providers continue to do battle over the question of whether and to what extent coverage will be available for the money paid to former players as part of the global concussion settlement. Via Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, a New York judge will hear arguments on Tuesday regarding whether NFL doctors should be required to surrender documents regarding the league’s potential knowledge as to the risks associated with head trauma.
The subpoenas target five doctors, and the insurance companies hope to show that the NFL knew about the risks of concussions, making insurance coverage not available to the league.
The insurance companies want to obtain documents relevant to efforts to discredit the work of Dr. Bennet Omalu regarding CTE, along with paperwork reflecting communications regarding the deaths of Mike Webster, Justin Strzelczyk, Terry Long, and Andre Waters.
If the NFL is forced to hand over these materials to the insurance companies, that could trigger a settlement of the case; some believe the NFL’s primary goal will be to keep the media and, in turn, the public from learning the full extent of what the league knew about head trauma -- and what the league may have done to cover it up.