The NCAA has agreed to pay a total of $75 million and cover costs to diagnose concussion-related illnesses in a settlement with current and former athletes filed today in Chicago’s federal court.
The collegiate body will also implement a new “return-to-play” policy for concussed athletes.
Pending a judge’s approval, the settlement with athletes who sued the NCAA over concussion-related medical claims will create a $70 million “medical monitoring fund.”
The fund is intended to diagnose post-concussion syndrome or related problems, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), but it does not cover the cost of treating any head injuries that are discovered. Athletes could later sue the NCAA for personal-injury claims.
The fund will provide “comprehensive, diagnostic relief” for past and present NCAA athletes, regardless of what sport they played or for how long, the settlement says.
The NCAA will also donate $5 million to “research the prevention, treatment and/or effects of concussions.”
The return-to-play policy includes baseline testing of all athletes before each season, prohibiting athletes diagnosed with a concussion from returning to competition or practice on the same day — and later only after a physician’s clearance — among other provisions.
The settlement would end a lawsuit filed in Chicago’s federal court in 2011 that accused the NCAA of breaching its duty to protect its players by not adopting a formal policy to spot and treat concussions.
Former Eastern Illinois University football player Adrian Arrington was the first plaintiff to file a lawsuit. Current and former athletes who played hockey, soccer and football at universities across the country later joined him.
“This really is an historic, ground-breaking settlement. It’s going to change college sports forever,” said Joseph J. Siprut, owner of Siprut P.C. and co-lead counsel for the plaintiff class.
“We’re basically confronting this issue in a way that’s just leaps and bounds better than anything that has been attempted previously.”
A representative for the NCAA could not be immediately reached for comment.
The case draws some parallels but is also distinct from a concussion lawsuit that the NFL remains in the process of settling for a potentially unlimited amount of cash payments. Read More