The $95 million Parkinson's payout scheme

Five law firms have been barred from handling any more claims from former players in a case related to fraudulent steering of clients towards doctors willing to give them a Parkinson's disease diagnosis, whether they exhibited symptoms or not. The firms, which represented 98 former players , were accused of laundering questionable Parkinson's Disease diagnoses into payable claims.

According to the report, the attorneys involved included Bart Oates, a former three-time Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers who earned his law degree while still playing in the NFL.

The report called it 'an organized scheme ... in which these law firms — and potentially others — circumvented the Settlement's anti-fraud safeguards and laundered questionable Parkinson's Disease diagnoses into payable claims.'

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The report said that the law firms circumvented the requirement by recruiting retired players as clients and sending them to unapproved doctors who diagnosed them with Parkinson's and prescribed them a drug that suppresses the symptoms.

At one point,retired players waited in a hotel lobby in Dallas to meet with a traveling doctor who had rented a suite for the purpose of examining them for Parkinson's, the report said.

Another unapproved doctor used by the firms was neither board-certified nor known to be a movement disorders specialist, but even if he were, he would have been ineligible due to past bankruptcy, tax liens and civil judgments, it said.

What auditors flagged in the May filing

The report identified the law firms involved as Douglas Grossinger, Attorney at Law; Feder Law, LLC; Pro Athlete Law Firm, P.A. ; Syme Law, PLLC; and Reppert Oates & Vytell, LLC.

It said the practtice began with Grossinger, who then recruited other attorneys to submit claims for him so as to avoid raising suspicion for submitting so many Parkinson's claims.

Oates did not farm out claims to other attorneys, but he engaged in a similar practice with diagnoses, the report said, with informants telling auditors that he 'cold-called Retired NFL Players, promising a Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease' if the players switched from another law firm to his.

Broader context

The NFL in 2013 agreed to establish the fund, meant to last for 65 years, to settle class-action allegations that it long hid what it knew about the neurological risks of playing after concussions.

The plan offers retired players baseline testing and compensation of up to $5 million for the most serious illnesses linked to football concussions, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and deaths involving chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

The league has previously expressed concerns about doctor-shopping or other fraud in the disbursement of the money, while some attorneys representing players have accused the league of throwing up roadblocks for players seeking payment.

Editorial take

Headlines Orbit's take is that the NFL's concussion settlement program has been marred by allegations of fraud and abuse,with law firms accused of steering clients towards doctors willing to give them a Parkinson's disease diagnosis. The program's integrity is at stake, and the league must take steps to prevent such schemes in the future.