Philadelphia Appeals Court Upholds NFL Concussion Settlement
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An appeals court in Philadelphia says the NFL's nearly $1 billion concussion settlement may not be perfect, but it is fair.
The court is upholding a trial judge's ruling that the NFL's concussion settlement was a reasonable way to resolve former players' head-injury claims.
A lawyer representing some ex-players who are against the settlement tells KYW Newsradio: "we are reviewing the court's opinion and considering our options."
On behalf of the three-judge Court of Appeals, Judge Thomas Ambro wrote "it is the nature of a settlement that some will be dissatisfied with the ultimate result." He went on to write "though not perfect, it is fair," and it will provide nearly $1 billion in value to the class of retired players.
It sets in motion the resolution of hundreds of lawsuits covering more than 20,000 retired players. Lawyers for plaintiffs say more than 98% of the retired player community supports the agreement.
Those who objected contended the terms were too restrictive.
Lawyers for the ex-players who appealed say it favored currently injured retired players, but not those yet to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated concussive blows.