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December 20, 2001 - Relatives Face Tough Legal Battles After Players' Deaths

TThe shocking deaths this summer of two football players, Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings and Northwestern's Rashidi Wheeler, drove home the dangers of sports supplements and sparked a debate on football's macho training methods.

Jesse Jackson and Johnnie Cochran made Wheeler's death a cause celebre. Stringer's widow, Kelci, demanded reform. The NFL even banned the supplement ephedra, a legal stimulant that was found in Wheeler's system and in the lockers of both men.

"The NFL was clearly shaken up in the short-term," says Richard Lapchick, chairman of the sports-business management program at the University of Central Indiana. "Paul Tagliabue personally went on the road to talk with teams about it, and the league's banning of ephedra probably had a lot to do with these incidents."

But as lawsuits in the cases begin to take shape, the legal legacies of last summer's tragedies may be limited to a pair of well-publicized medical malpractice suits.

In the Stringer case, worker's compensation laws could derail a $100 million lawsuit expected to be filed by the player's family. Minnesota's worker's comp statute shields employees and co-workers from liability except when gross negligence or intentional harm can be proved, says James Honerman, a spokesman for the state's department of labor and industry. "So in this case, it's going to be difficult," he says.

The Vikings declined to comment, but attorneys for Stringer's family believe they will show gross negligence on the part of the team in a lawsuit they plan to file on Jan. 9.

They cite a lack of access to water and insufficient rest breaks. The attorneys for Stringer's family also say Vikings' coaches taunted Stringer after a newspaper ran a picture of the player vomiting during the previous day's practice. More important, the attorneys cite the lack of treatment afforded Stringer as he left the practice field, stricken, on Aug. 1. They say that inattention, despite the warning signs of the previous day, killed him.

"You get better care from a school nurse than what Korey got," says Paul DiMarco, one of the family's attorneys.

Worker's compensation experts doubt that DiMarco will succeed. "They could hire the 2,000 greatest attorneys in the world to represent them," says Ron Mix, an NFL Hall of Fame lineman and a nationally known labor attorney, "but if a suit is barred by worker's comp laws, it's barred."

State compensation systems require employers to pay into a fund that provides workers access to medical care and payment for lost wages in case of on-the-job injury or death. In return, the employer avoids the threat of most lawsuits. For Stringer's widow, Kelci, the maximum she can receive from worker's comp is a $15,000 funeral benefit and $750 a week for 30 years - or about $1.2 million.

Stringer's most recent contract, which would have expired in 2003, paid him $18 million over five years.

The Wheeler case - filed in August by the player's parents, Linda Will and George Wheeler - has no such barriers. Worker's comp laws don't protect college athletes because they're not considered employees. "The Wheeler case automatically has fewer barriers," Mix says. "It can be tried on the merits."

Both sides in the case have strong arguments: Wheeler's parents say a lack of proper medical treatment during a unauthorized workout killed their son; Northwestern says a banned substance containing ephedra was to blame.

Wheeler collapsed and died during a supposedly voluntary conditioning drill, though university officials concede the workout violated NCAA rules on offseason practices because the results of the drill were reported to coach Randy Walker.

The lawsuit alleges that Northwestern failed to provide adequate emergency equipment, such as oxygen and transport, or even a phone to call an ambulance. The suit also says the training staff forced Wheeler to breathe into a paper bag, thus reducing his oxygen supply.

The workout itself is being made a villain. Players were forced to run 10 100-yard sprints, followed by eight 80s, six 60s and four 40s under an allotted time. "These drills were strenuous, and it was a test required by coach Walker," says Larry Rogers, the attorney for Will. "We believe the coaches caused the problem with such a strenuous drill, and then didn't give Mr. Wheeler the emergency medical care that was needed."

Northwestern has denied the claims in the suit, and its defense can be summed up in a word: ephedra, which researchers say can cause heart problems, seizures, stroke and death, and is banned by the NCAA.

"It appears that Rashidi Wheeler took two supplements, Ultimate Punch and Xenadrine, both of which contain this banned substance," said Northwestern President Henry Bienen.

Though the Cook County medical examiner says the levels of ephedra weren't toxic, critics say it doesn't take much to endanger people using the substance as a workout booster.

Northwestern says it issued warnings about supplement use, and is questioning whether Wheeler put himself in danger.

While the legal positions in the case have hardened, the rhetoric has softened. Soon after Wheeler's death, the case appeared headed toward a long, ugly court fight. Will hired Johnnie Cochran's law firm, used Jackson as a spokesman, and fought Wheeler's father for control of the estate.

But after Will and George Wheeler agreed in October to co-administrate their son's estate, Will quietly dumped Cochran and hired Rogers - a well-respected Chicago litigator who won a $55 million jury verdict for one client, the largest in Illinois history.

Chances for a settlement seem enhanced, based on Rogers' reputation and track record: His small firm earned $99 million in 17 settlements last year alone.

Rogers' style is different, too. For one, he says, "I have not talked to the Rev. Jackson at all." For another, Rogers isn't ruling out the possibility that supplements contributed to Wheeler's death, and says if ephedra played a role, that doesn't hurt his case. "He needed emergency medical treatment and didn't get it," Rogers says. "No matter what got him into trouble, he didn't get the things he needed."

Rogers' position stands in stark contrast to the stance taken by the Stringer family, which denies that Stringer ever took ephedra - despite reports that he had bottles of ephedra products, one empty, in his locker, and was seen ingesting a supplement before his final practice. "That's irrelevant to our case," says James Gould, Stringer's agent.

The one thing missing in the winter legal fallout from the summer's tragedies is any action against the supplement makers, even though they would seem to be liability targets. "You have to look at naming the supplement companies," says Mix. "No. 1, they have insurance."

But John Tiedt, a Indianapolis attorney who has tried cases against ephedra manufacturers, says proving ephedra liability can be difficult because the products are relatively new. "No one has really conducted an epidemiological study on ephedra products," he says. "It would be expensive, and it would be ludicrous and unethical, because you'd probably injure someone doing the study." Also, autopsies may not accurately show concentrations of ephedra. "The coroners may not have calibrated the tests for ephedra," Tiedt says, "and instead the machine is looking for methamphetamine."

Finally, long-term ephedra use could lead to hypertension and other conditions that could affect the heart during workouts, but wouldn't show up on a drug screen.

Nonetheless, Tiedt says the Stringer and Wheeler cases have already aided the cause of people fighting for stricter regulation of supplements. "It places ephedra in the public forum for discussion," he says.

At least for now, the deaths of Korey Stringer and Rashidi Wheeler won't put supplements on trial - except in the court of public opinion.

There's Big Trouble in Minny for Vikes

Kodie Stringer, 3 years old, knows his daddy is in heaven. He knows this because when Kodie flew in a plane, he saw Korey Stringer's big, smiling face in the clouds.

But as they approach their first Christmas without the Vikings Pro Bowl tackle, the rest of Stringer's family and friends are devastated by their grief.

"The holiday season has rained havoc on Kelci and the family," says agent James Gould of Stringer's widow Kelci. "I think it's finally hit her. She was very strong and now is in terrible pain. We're all feeling a huge sense of loss."

Kelci Stringer has been screaming for the NFL to take greater steps to protect its players since her husband died Aug. 1 of heat stroke during the Vikings' training camp. She would also like the league to pay the remainder of the five-year, $18 million contract Stringer signed in 1998. On Jan. 9, after the regular season ends, Kelci Stringer and James and Cathy Stringer, Korey's parents, will force the football world to listen by filing a $100 million lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court.

They will accuse the Vikings, coach Dennis Green, offensive line coach Mike Tice and trainers Chuck Barta and Fred Zamberletti of failing to provide Stringer with basic medical care as he lay dying from heatstroke on that oppressively hot, humid day this summer.

Paul DeMarco, one of the attorneys representing the Stringer family along with noted class action attorney Stanley Chesley, says he is uncertain if the NFL will be named as a defendant. But the game's macho culture will most definitely be on trial, he says.

"This case," adds Gould, who represented Stringer, "will revolutionize football."

The Vikings declined to comment.

The lawsuit would not be necessary if Vikings owner Red McCombs had lived up to promises to help Stringer's family, Gould says. "The owner has been unwilling to even meet and discuss it and unwilling to do anything to help the family," Gould says. "We had a beautiful young man die on their watch. We believe the facts will show that their gross negligence and willful and wanton behavior led to his death."

The Vikings, Gould says, should have paid out Stringer's contract and created an education fund for Kodie. Instead, they've told the Stringer family to apply for worker's compensation benefits. "You couldn't have handled it more wrong if you tried," Gould says. "Red McCombs, it was like he swallowed a stupid pill. It is incumbent upon the NFL to call the guy and say `Do the right thing. You represent all of us.'"

A state OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) investigation concluded that the Vikings' training camp met state standards for the prevention and treatment of heat stroke. DeMarco, however, says the investigators didn't note that Stringer went unexamined by medical staff when he first demonstrated heat stroke symptoms - and was not provided adequate fluids the next day, when he collapsed with his body temperature at 108 degrees.

He also says OSHA didn't investigate the lack of medical care given to Stringer by the Vikings' team doctor after he collapsed. "Korey was caught up in a culture which says pay attention to his bones and joints, because if those things work we can keep pushing him out there," he says. "But if the rest of him doesn't work, really, that's not much of our concern."

In all matters involving wrongful death it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations. If a loved one has been a victim of wrongful death, contact us now, CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A SIMPLE CASE FORM. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we will work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds. Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

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