The National Football League has asked a federal judge to appoint a Special Investigator to probe what it describes as a widespread fraud that has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in false claims to a fund meant to compensate former players for head injuries.
The league established the fund as part of a settlement agreement with players, and the NFL has so far funded more than $227 million in claims.
The 2017 Concussion Settlement between the league and retired players established a 65-year, uncapped fund for players with qualifying diagnoses, such as CTE, ALS, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s and other Neurocognitive Impairments.
The NFL alleges fraudulent schemes by doctors, lawyers and players to illicitly tap the fund, which is estimated to be valued at around $1 Billion (1,000 Million Dollars).
According to the league’s motion, approximately 46% of the submitted claims have warranted audit by the independent claims administrator because of red flags or other signs of potential fraud.
Among the red flags or other signs of potential fraud are:
Ø At least one player was advised by his attorney to show up for a neuropsychological evaluation hung over and on Valium, to ensure that he failed cognitive tests required to qualify for a settlement.
Ø Medical reports submitted by one neurologist included identical vital signs for more than 20 different players.
Ø One doctor claimed to have spent 130 hours evaluating players in a single day—on two separate occasions.
Ø One law firm, representing more than 100 former players, is alleged to have “coached” players on how to answer questions during their evaluations and was “willing to pay doctors directly out of their pocket” for a qualifying diagnosis.
Ø Another law firm allegedly charged players more to obtain an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and many of those players’ evaluations were done by a Pediatric Neurologist. 75% of the players seen by the Pediatric Neurologist received an Alzheimer’s diagnosis even though they were as young as 29 years old.
Lawyers representing some of the players are complaining about slow pay by the NFL. The NFL says the slow pay is necessary because the NFL must closely evaluate the claims because of fraud described above.
From the Institute of Higher Foolishness, comes the not-so-surprising observation that many of the Loudest Complaining Lawyers are the ones cheating the most and they are the reason for the payment processing slow down.
It is my Not-So-Silly Opinion that these lawyers are caught between the proverbial rock and that hard place because they need faster pay so they can keep up with the Monthly Payment Schedule on their newly acquired Fleet of Lexus Automobiles.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
