Without a doubt, the NCAA has found itself in the line of fire a significant number of times during the past few years. It appears that the antediluvian organization is slow to adjust, desperate to hang on to power and its revenue stream. It appears that the floodgates are fully opened, particularly with NIL in full force. Now, a number of other negative issues are coming to light, as John Askin filed a lawsuit in the state of Kentucky.
In Kentucky, which is where he lives, he names Notre Dame and the NCAA as defendants. He claims that the NCAA and Notre Dame are guilty of negligence and concealment. He claims that he suffered a significant amount of neurological damage stemming from his football career, but he also says that he was illegally forced to take pain medications in an effort to keep him on the field.
According to J. Bruce Miller, he asserts that doctors and trainers affiliated with the university were illegally giving him medication that was only intended for use by veterinarians on animals. He specifically named the drug Supac, but he also says that he was injected with Marcain, a drug known to lead to multiple side effects. He also says that multiple parties were aware of what was happening, as well as the possible risks of suffering significant traumatic brain injuries, but that the football team and NCAA did nothing.
He states that many of his symptoms were caused by repeated blows to the head, but that the care he needs to receive has prevented him from maintaining employment. He has developed a host of neurological issues as a result of his football career, and he claims that many of these issues were made worse because of the negligence the NCAA and Notre Dame showed towards his medical issues.
It remains to be seen whether more lawsuits will be filed against the NCAA, but it is obvious that something has to be done to protect the civil rights of their student-athletes, particularly given that they are not compensated for the time they spend on the field despite the significant amount of money they generate for the NCAA. Many interested parties will track the lawsuit as it makes its way through the court system.
