According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are approximately 225,000 deaths a year as a result of medical malpractice. A sad stat, but one which keeps many of the best law firms in business across the country. Luckily for Bernard Hicks, his case isn’t quite that serious.
Hicks played safety for the University of California football team from 2004 to 2008. According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month and reported by the Los Angeles Times, Hicks is now seeking restitution from the school in regards to a medical malpractice claim. Hicks and his medical malpractice lawyer, Matthew Whibley, are arguing that he sustained multiple concussions while playing and practicing and the school did not properly educate him in prevention, treatment, and the overall risks of long-term head trauma.
“The university is the players’ caretaker,” Whibley said. “We think it would be fair for them to at least inform the players what they’re getting themselves into.”
It’s a suit many law firms would have taken. It indicates that since leaving school Hicks has endured “permanent and debilitating” neurological injuries that have caused depression, suicidal thoughts, dizziness, memory loss, and blurred and double vision. The team physician, Cindy Chang, head athletic trainer, Ryan Cobb, and head coach at the time, Jeff Tedford, were named as defendants in the case.
The issue of head trauma and specifically concussions has been an ongoing battle in the National Football League for the past few years. Many players have found law firms that have an attorney for medical malpractice to help them gain damages from the serious conditions they suffer later in life. Some even lead to suicide. There were 43,982 drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2013 and it’s safe to say a portion of them were directly affected by head trauma. It’s unclear if any of the over 3 million reported workplace injuries in 2013 account for those sustained by professional athletes while playing their sport.
