On September 11, 2018, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman revealed to the Associated Press that a judge had ordered the NHL to enter into mediation regarding a concussion lawsuit. This news comes in the wake of a July 13 ruling where a Minnesota federal judge denied a motion for class action status in a case brought by a group of former NHL players. The players attempted to create a group of all living former NHL players and a group of all retired players diagnosed with neurological diseases, disorders or conditions, combining a totaling of more than 5,000 players.
Currently, more than 100 former players are part of the lawsuit that accuses the NHL of failing to better prevent repeated subconcussive impacts to the head, a leading factor in CTE development. Commissioner Bettman was quoted saying, "We [the NHL] also think the lawsuit doesn't have merit." The NHL concussion lawsuit follows the NFL player's successful concussion lawsuit settled on January 7, 2017, which emboldened the ever growing concern surrounding CTE and risks associated with head trauma.
For more information see https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/bettman-tells-ap-nhl-mediation-concussion-lawsuit-57752378
For Withers article on the denial of NHL players class action see https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/former-nhl-players-will-not-appeal-decision-regarding-class-action-classification
This article was written with contributions from Tim Piscatelli.
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