NFLPA SAYS PLAYERS MUST SIGN WAIVER OR NOT BE TREATED

12.12.12

Bountygate may have put NFLPA President DeMaurice Smith on the television news program, CBS This Morning with hosts Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell today, but a mention of NFL medical care, albeit brief, may have may have been the most important topic Smith raised. Toward the end of the interview, Smith brought to light a new issue regarding the perceived lack of priorities surrounding appropriate medical care for NFL players. Apparently he was referring to controversial injections of the pain-relief drug, Toradal. Here’s a transcript of what Smith said about the issue:
“Today we’re going to be filing another lawsuit against the National Football League and against some member teams because those teams are making our players sign waivers of medical liability before getting medical treatment and before they get some shots. And I believe that a medical professional making a player sign a waiver before you provide that player with medical treatment is not only something that is wrong ethically but at a time when the league professes to care about player health and safety. Do you think that’s consistent with player health and safety?”