A Missouri attorney successfully intervened on behalf of a retired National Football League (NFL) athlete who was denied payment from a 2014 concussion settlement due to medical marijuana treatment.
Attorney Paul D. Anderson of Humphrey, Farrington & McClain, PC (HFM Legal) secured a $1,420,566 payout for his client who was prescribed a daily micro-dose of medical marijuana for headaches, pain, anxiety, and stress directly related to playing football for the NFL.
“I represent a lot of retired players relating to the NFL concussion settlement administration process,” Anderson told the St. Louis Record. “This case is a very interesting one because it came to me after my client received a qualifying diagnosis. The claim was supposed to be paid and then right before Christmas, the NFL filed an appeal challenging my client's diagnosis.”
The NFL appealed the award because the player, who asked to privatize his name, had consumed physician-prescribed medical marijuana before a neurological test even though the diagnosis was confirmed by physicians and experts selected by the league, according to media reports.
“My client did not want to use opioids so instead he turned to medical marijuana, which was prescribed or recommended by his treating doctor,” Anderson said. “Nevertheless, the NFL turned that around and used it against him.”
Anderson learned of the case after reading a decision published on Dec. 2, 2020, which remanded the monetary award disfavorably for the former player who wore prescription sunglasses and a hood over his head when tested neurologically.
“The decision that was issued sending our case back for remand included comments that were borderline defamatory,” Anderson said. “One comment being that my client wearing sunglasses and a hoodie or hood is indicative of him being a malingerer. Why even make that type of nonsensical comment? He wears sunglasses because of photophobia to prevent headaches from light sensitivity. It has nothing to do with him trying to cover up that he was stoned as they seemed to imply.”
Last month, the league announced it was awarding $1 million in funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina in Canada to research the benefits of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection in football player concussions, according to a press release.
“The fact that the NFL used medical marijuana to try to overturn a claim is significant when the NFL just recently agreed to support the study of marijuana and CBD for therapeutic benefits on brain trauma,” Anderson said. “The NFL announced that research grant after our claim was awarded.”
Anderson added that he isn't surprised by the NFL's tactics.
"My client stated in his declaration that they treated him as if he was a stoner, a liar, and a malingerer, which I thought was outrageous," he said. "That's why we pushed back so vigorously. I thought they were crossing the line but it's not out of the ordinary. The NFL is a multi-billion dollar corporation. They don't obtain that success without great lawyers who use the law to the fullest extent to try and save money."
Anderson, who is based in Kansas City, previously litigated against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"We opted all of our guys out of the NFL concussion settlement back in 2015 and 2016 because we didn't like the settlement," he said.