NCAA settles class-action concussion lawsuit, will pay $70M

The NCAA has agreed to settle a class-action head injury lawsuit by providing $70 million for concussion testing and diagnosis of current and former student-athletes, according to court documents filed Tuesday in Chicago.

“We have been and will continue to be committed to student-athlete safety, which is one of the NCAA’s foundational principles,” NCAA Chief Medical Officer Brian Hainline said in a press release.

“Medical knowledge of concussions will continue to grow, and consensus about diagnosis, treatment and management of concussions by the medical community will continue to evolve,” Hainline said. “This agreement’s proactive measures will ensure student-athletes have access to high quality medical care by physicians with experience in the diagnosis, treatment and management of concussions.”

The agreement applies to student athletes who have played at NCAA member schools at any time in the past until 50 years in the future, but the deal does not include bodily injury claims. The settlement, which will resolve pending class actions, must be approved by U.S. District Judge John Lee.

The NCAA has also agreed to implement a policy spelling out how all teams must treat players who receive blows to the head. The settlement applies to multiple sports, including football, hockey, soccer, basketball, wrestling, field hockey and lacrosse. It covers both men and women.

Plaintiffs include former Ouachita Baptist soccer player Angela Palacios, who suffered a concussion during practice, and former Central Arkansas football player Derek K. Owens, who suffered multiple concussions.

Earlier this month, a federal judge granted preliminary approval to compensate thousands of former NFL players for concussion-related injuries.

In May, a study showed that the concussions rate among high school athletes had doubled in less than a decade, to 0.51 concussions per 1,000 athletes.

Joseph Rosenthal, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Ohio State University, and lead author of the study, said in a release that the data likely reflected that concussions that were occurring before are now being diagnosed more consistently.

Al Jazeera and wire services