Chris Maragos, ex-Eagles captain, awarded $43.5 million in medical malpractice suit

Chris Maragos, ex-Eagles captain, awarded $43.5 million in medical malpractice suit

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A jury in Philadelphia on Monday awarded former Eagles participant Chris Maragos $43.5 million right after he sued the health-related team in charge of treating his injured knee.

Maragos experienced accused orthopedic surgeon James Bradley and Rothman Orthopaedics of neglecting to deal with a torn meniscus he experienced all through his playing times, major to the premature conclude of his NFL vocation and triggering ongoing discomfort and actual physical limitations.

“On Sunday, my team played the Superbowl, and I could only watch and speculate no matter whether I could have been out there with them had I acquired suitable healthcare care,” the 36-12 months-outdated reported in a assertion. “While I stay in consistent discomfort and will by no means get back on the discipline, I hope this selection sends a message to teams’ professional medical staffs that gamers are persons, not just contracts.”

Lawyers for Maragos had contended that after he experienced a ideal knee injuries in an October 2017 match in opposition to the Carolina Panthers, he was diagnosed with a torn posterior cruciate ligament, which was surgically repaired by Bradley. Damage to Maragos’s meniscus was dismissed, nevertheless, the attorneys explained, even following a Might 2018 MRI examination showed the personal injury worsening. That improvement must have retained Bradley and the Rothman rehabilitation team from approving Maragos to progress to better actual physical routines, but rather, for every his attorneys, the clinical team allowed him to put “undue stress” on his knee.

Subsequent that injuries, Maragos in no way once more played in an NFL sport, and he inevitably retired in 2019. For the duration of his demo, which incorporated testimony from former Eagles teammates Nick Foles, Trey Burton and Jordan Hicks, a fiscal analyst reportedly instructed the jury that having his profession slice short price Maragos at the very least $8.7 million in long term NFL earnings, had he been ready to perform by 2022.

Customers of Maragos’s legal workforce reported in a news release Monday that they “proved at demo that Rothman Orthopaedics developed two separate professional medical charts for Maragos, one particular of which unsuccessful to incorporate key notes about his damage and restoration.”

Two thirds of the $43.5 million was assigned to Bradley, for every stories, with the other third produced the duty of Rothman Orthopaedics.

“This verdict will not carry back again Chris’ NFL job, but we are grateful the Maragos relatives finally acquired a measure of justice,” legal professional Peter J. Bouquets stated in a statement. “But, this is only the beginning in our work to demand from customers even further accountability for professional sports activities franchises and moral therapy for athletes. This jury’s verdict serves as a reminder that any team’s physician, in any activity, who jeopardizes the very well-being of its players thanks to contractual obligations or economic incentives, will be held accountable for their misconduct.”

A pair of lawyers who represented Bradley and Rothman Orthopaedics did not straight away react to requests for comment.

All through the trial, in accordance to the Philadelphia Inquirer, legal professionals for the defendants argued Maragos experienced his meniscus injuries in a weight-place incident various months following his surgery. They also pointed to the ex-player’s age at the time of his operation, 31, and 8 many years in the NFL in suggesting that Maragos’s job was not possible to carry on a lot lengthier.

Physicians who oversaw his rehabilitation have been informed of the meniscus issue, legal professionals explained, but deemed it “stable” and not likely to respond properly to a surgical treatment.

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“I’m a surgeon — that’s what I do,” Bradley, the head orthopedic surgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, reportedly testified. “If I had to function on that, I’d run on that in a heartbeat.”

Workforce medical doctors from numerous other NFL organizations (per Huge Trial) testified in defense of Bradley and his training course of cure.

An attorney for Bradley, John C. Conti, claimed following the verdict that the timing of the demo experienced “enormous affect,” specified it unfolded as the hometown Eagles were making a run to the Tremendous Bowl.

Maragos, a defensive back again and special groups ace whose NFL job started in 2010 as an undrafted free of charge agent with the San Francisco 49ers, joined the Eagles in 2014 following three decades with the Seattle Seahawks, with whom he gained the Super Bowl following the 2013 year. He was named a specific groups captain at the begin of Philadelphia’s 2017 period, throughout which his harm prevented him from taking part in in Philadelphia’s only Super Bowl victory, a 41-33 earn about the New England Patriots.

All through his demo, for every the Philadelphia Inquirer, Maragos reported his bodily impairment meant he was “the only dad who is not out there actively playing flag soccer.”

Pursuing the verdict, he reported: “We’re definitely grateful and grateful for the result. We had the reality on our facet, and the jury observed it.”