ArticleArthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation2025
Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Against Team Physicians in the National Football League Increased Between 1971 and 2020 But Remain Low Overall.
Article in Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Litigation Against Physicians Caring for Collegiate Athletes in the United States.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: To examine malpractice lawsuits filed by National Football League (NFL) players against team physicians to understand the factors involved with medical liability in the context of professional football. Methods: A comprehensive review of publicly available legal databases, court records, and news archives was conducted in August 2023 to identify and analyze malpractice lawsuits involving NFL players, teams, and team physicians. Data on case demographics, physician subspecialty, allegations, and outcomes, including monetary amounts, were collected and analyzed. Linear regression was used to assess for a temporal relation with the number of lawsuits. Results: There were 273 physicians identified, of whom 190 were orthopaedic surgeons. There were 28 lawsuits filed by NFL players against physicians, and a significant increase in lawsuits was identified from 1971 to 2020 ( Conclusions: There was an increase in the number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed by professional athletes against team physicians in the NFL between 1971 and 2020, but the overall number remains low. Clinical Relevance: Understanding the frequency and characteristics of medical malpractice lawsuits is essential for physicians, sports organizations, and policymakers to help guide appropriate health care delivery and risk management strategies for athletes in the NFL.
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Registered trials
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