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McDuffie complaint is filed

dolphan39

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[intro]Lawyers for former Dolphins wide receiver O.J. McDuffie filed a complaint in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court on Friday accusing former and current team physicians of malpractice and gross negligence in the treatment of McDuffie's 1999 left big toe injury.

Herman Russomanno, the lead attorney for McDuffie, said he expects to ask for a ''multimillion dollar'' settlement in the case based on what he says was a ``betrayal of trust.''

The suit could eventually include other current and former members of the Dolphins staff, such as former coach Jimmy Johnson.
[/intro]

''O.J. had a relationship with the team physicians and believed that they were giving him the best information,'' said Russomanno, a past president of the Florida Bar Association whose expertise is malpractice. ``He was lulled into a false sense of security.

``O.J. is smart enough that if they had leveled with him and told him the full extent of what was wrong, he said he would have made the choice to not play and heal properly.''

Former Dolphins team physician Dr. John Uribe, current team physician Dr. Dan Kanell and radiologist Dr. Michael Thorpe were named as defendants in the suit. In addition, HealthSouth Doctors' Hospital in Coral Gables, where Uribe and Thorpe work, and Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, where Kanell works, were named.

The defendants have 20 days to formally respond to the suit once they are notified. Uribe was unavailable for comment. Kanell and Thorpe declined to comment.

Russomanno, who is working with attorneys Howard Weinberg and Robert Fiore, said Uribe is the ''main doctor'' in the suit. The complaint said Uribe cleared McDuffie to play and injected McDuffie multiple times with anesthetic substances, such as cortisone, to dull the pain of an injury he suffered Nov. 21, 1999, against New England.

McDuffie suffered muscle and tendon injuries to the toe. One of the claims in the complaint is that McDuffie was told by Uribe that he would have a ''complete recovery'' and would ''heal without incident.'' That claim is based on written reports by Dolphins trainer Kevin O'Neill in December 1999, after McDuffie had a second magnetic resonance imaging exam on the toe.

According to Russomanno, Uribe said those things despite the fact McDuffie was not advised to see a foot specialist until after the season.

Since the end of the 1999 season, McDuffie has undergone three surgeries on the toe. However, he said in March he still suffers pain and would be unable to participate in the offseason conditioning program if he were still with the team.

The Dolphins cut McDuffie on Feb. 28 after the team and his attorneys failed to reach agreement on language regarding the status of his injury.

McDuffie did not play last season and was limited to nine games and 14 catches in 2000. In 1998, he set a team record with 90 receptions -- a figure that also led the NFL. He finished his career with 415 receptions -- fourth on the Dolphins' all-time list.

Weinberg said McDuffie, 32, would still be playing if not for the negligence.

''After an exhaustive investigation, I am absolutely convinced that if not for the gross negligence and malpractice by the professionals that O.J. trusted, Dolphins fans would have been treated to the thrills of the league's best receiving tandem, [Chris] Chambers and McDuffie,'' Weinberg said.

from the Miami Herald
 
Good for O.J. I hope he gets paid.

McDuffie and Chambers would have been simply awesome.

87
 
OJ McDuffie was a classy guy, and very good WR at one time.

Today he sounds more like a money-grubbing cry baby who needs to just face the fact that his turf toe cost him his career.....

He's in control of his own body. If he felt that he shouldn't have been playing becuase of the pain, then he shouldn't have been....

Nobody can make you play. He played because he wanted to, not because the doctors told him to, or gave him permission to. Implying that it's the doctors fault because they gave him clearance, is nothing more than an excuse IMO.....

He should just realize that his turf-toe injury cost him to end his career sooner than he would have liked. I think he should take it like a man, and walk, sorry, limp away......

PHINZ RULE!!!
 
Dude, I don't mean to be an ass, but I think maybe you should understand that these guys play through pain every single day. When a Dr tells you that your toe won't get any worse playing on it, and you are trying to win a Super Bowl, you play if you can. When that Dr. turns out to be full of crap, and your whole career is washed down the toilet, then I think he should be paid.

It's not that he didn't know his body. What he didn't know was that if he continued to play on it, it would get to the point that it would never heal.

Had OJ KNOWN that playing on it would end his career, he would have not played.
 
if he gets compensation

Originally posted by dolfan87
Good for O.J. I hope he gets paid.

McDuffie and Chambers would have been simply awesome.

87
i hope its before the season starts. something like this could get the players at each others throats, some will think he should get paid, some won't.:confused:
 
Originally posted by BLITZKRIEG
OJ McDuffie was a classy guy, and very good WR at one time.

Today he sounds more like a money-grubbing cry baby who needs to just face the fact that his turf toe cost him his career.....

He's in control of his own body. If he felt that he shouldn't have been playing becuase of the pain, then he shouldn't have been....

Nobody can make you play. He played because he wanted to, not because the doctors told him to, or gave him permission to. Implying that it's the doctors fault because they gave him clearance, is nothing more than an excuse IMO.....

He should just realize that his turf-toe injury cost him to end his career sooner than he would have liked. I think he should take it like a man, and walk, sorry, limp away......

PHINZ RULE!!!

What a dumbass!!! I mean, how would you feel if say you had a knee injury, and the doctor tells you its ok, heres some pain pill you will be fine. So, you take your pain pills and continue to walk around normally, all the while destroying your knee more and more... to the point where you eventually can't walk anymore. Where if you would have had it properly treated you would have been fine?? Would you just accept the fact that you are in a wheel-chair for the rest of your life, and it is the doctor's fault?? I THINK NOT!!
 
excuse me

Originally posted by grooves12


What a dumbass!!! I mean, how would you feel if say you had a knee injury, and the doctor tells you its ok, heres some pain pill you will be fine. So, you take your pain pills and continue to walk around normally, all the while destroying your knee more and more... to the point where you eventually can't walk anymore. Where if you would have had it properly treated you would have been fine?? Would you just accept the fact that you are in a wheel-chair for the rest of your life, and it is the doctor's fault?? I THINK NOT!!
i know its a quote by somebody else, but the post is directly after mine, who are you calling a "dumbass":evil:
 
dolfan87 hit it right on the head. If the doctor told Juice it was ok to play, and juice choose not to, could you imagine how hartless his teammates would think Juice was. When the Doctor told Juice it was ok to play, Juice almost had no choice, he had to play. I just hope this doctor doesn't make any more mistakes and cost us another stud player, ie Chambers' hamstring or Thoms' neck. Give the Juice his money, he could of played 4 or 5 more years.
 
Originally posted by BLITZKRIEG
OJ McDuffie was a classy guy, and very good WR at one time.

Today he sounds more like a money-grubbing cry baby who needs to just face the fact that his turf toe cost him his career.....

He's in control of his own body. If he felt that he shouldn't have been playing becuase of the pain, then he shouldn't have been....

Nobody can make you play. He played because he wanted to, not because the doctors told him to, or gave him permission to. Implying that it's the doctors fault because they gave him clearance, is nothing more than an excuse IMO.....

He should just realize that his turf-toe injury cost him to end his career sooner than he would have liked. I think he should take it like a man, and walk, sorry, limp away......

PHINZ RULE!!!

what a statement.

if you knew anything about the player you comment about you would know thats farthest from the truth!

here was a guy the dan marino at his retirement press conference called "the toughest player he ever played with".

one who other than one incident with daryl last year was also one of the most liked players.

it wasn't a turf toe injury and it happened at a home game which after he stopped in parking lot like he always did and signed for fans when he was in obvious discomfort.

i for one hope he gets his money!
 
I know more about it than probably anybody on here. I live in Ft. Lauderdale, and I've read everything about this subject, every year it's been an issue....

Don't ever tell me, or anyone else what they don't know. You got that!!!

I've read everything about it, I've heard all of the facts, and I still think he's wrong in his decision to take action against the Dolphins Organization for his lack of accepting his own responsibiltiesas a player.....

The Dolphins Organization was even kind enough to let this guy hang around for two years after the injury was at it's worst. He was on our roster, getting paid, and not contributing anything while doing it. He should be thankful we didn't dump him in 1999!!!!

While most teams would have probably given up on him, we continued to support him in hopes of him returning. We gave him two years, and every opportunity we could regarding his injury. What else does he expect??.....

We treated OJ with the upmost respect during his days here in Miami. He was a very well liked player while he was active, and the fans supported him with everything they had....

The doctors gave him the OK to play for a reason. It wasn't because the doctors were Dolphins fans, or the coaching staff just wanted him to play no matter what. He was cleared to play by the doctors for a reason, and if he was cleared to play, the damage they inspected must not have looked career threatening at the time.....

Who else besides the doctors are you suppose to trust???.....YOURSELF!!!

Doctors can't predict the future. They were not responsible for his recovery either. They did their job as well as they know how to. OJ's decision to return to field was his own, not the doctors who opperated on his toe, or the coaching staff. All they could do was encourage him to get better.

If you were a football player, would you let a doctor tell you when you can, or can't return??....Especially when your still feeling cronic discomfort???

He knew he wasn't ready because he was in pain, and if his toe was causing that much pain to begin with that the doctors had to give him injections to numb his toe, he should have known better. He chose to play with the pain, rather than not play at all....

Nobody forced OJ McDuffie to play. He's his own man. He made a bad decision to return. IT'S HIS FAULT....

"The Doctors Made Me Do It!!"....LOL!!!....What a cry baby!!!!

PHINZ RULE!!!
 
It's silly to argue who is at fault now.....that is what the lawsuit is for,but if the Doctors cleared him to play by saying he wasn't risking further injury then it IS the Doctors' fault.
How can you decide wheteher an injury is career threatening or not? You can't! So who are you supposed to trust? The DOCTORS!
If they clearly told him he could play and that the injury would heal in the off season then they are in the wrong, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

And the fact that OJ was kept on the roster for so long after it was determined there was a major misdiagnosis of the problem only points to the fact that the Dolphins were trying to smooth things over and avoid the lawsuit that was coming.
 
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