Claims that NFL teams gave players return-to-play drugs and fraudulently concealed the health consequences were filed years too late, a federal appeals court ruled.
Former players claimed that the National Football League clubs violated a federal racketeering law through physicians and trainers who dispensed pills to keep injured players on the field despite nagging injuries.
The claims are barred by the four-year statute of limitations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Feb. 6 unpublished decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.
The NFL clubs also concealed their violations of federal drug laws, ...