NFL Disputes Control Over Drugs, Says Players’ Appeal Meritless

The NFL urged the Ninth Circuit not to revive former professional football players’ claims that they were given painkillers to get them back on the field at the expense of their long-term health.

The players’ complaint doesn’t support a conclusion that the National Football League owed or breached any duty of care, the league argued in a brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

And the complaint failed to show that the NFL distributed, handled, or administered medications—or even directed and controlled such activities, the league said Oct. 23.

The allegations “fall far short of showing that the NFL itself unlawfully distributed medications,” it said, “whether by physically handing them out or by specifically directing club personnel to do so,” the NFL said.

The trial court dismissed the players’ claims in April, finding Richard Dent and other players in the proposed class action failed to show the NFL itself illegally distributed the controlled substances.

On appeal, the players said they never asserted that league personnel directly gave drugs to players or club personnel. Instead, they argued, the NFL “directs and controls its pyramidal prescription drug scheme and is therefore liable to plaintiffs.”

Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White LLC represents the players.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP represent the NFL.

The case is Dent v. NFL, 9th Cir., No. 19-16017, 10/23/19.