PHILADELPHIA – After a two-week trial, a jury has handed down a $43.5 million medical malpractice verdict to the former captain of the Philadelphia Eagles, finding that his doctors were negligent in their treatment of his 2017 knee injury and that it directly led to the end of his National Football League career.
Christopher Maragos of Philadelphia first filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 5, 2019 versus Dr. James P. Bradley and Burke & Bradley Orthopedics of Pittsburgh, plus Rothman Orthopaedics, also of Philadelphia.
Maragos began his career with the San Francisco 49ers, before winning the Super Bowl as a Seattle Seahawks player in 2014 and then signing a three-year contract to play for the Eagles in 2014.
Maragos, who was an active member of the Eagles roster from 2014 to 2018, suffered a severely-torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a game against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 19, 2017.
Defendant Bradley later performed surgery on Maragos’s injured knee and was the point physician on his recovery treatment thereafter. However, Maragos argued that Bradley improperly moved his physical therapy plan forward, rather than change course, after an MRI test taken in May 2018 revealed the injury worsening. This advancing treatment plan included having Maragos run on dry land.
Bradley’s decision, according to Maragos’s counsel, caused additional stress and damage to his already-injured knee.
Counsel for Maragos also argued that a Rothman Orthopaedics surgeon created two separate medical charts for their client, one of which failed to include key notes about his injury and recovery.
Appearing as witnesses on Maragos’s behalf were a trio of former Eagles teammates in middle linebacker Jordan Hicks, tight end Trey Burton and quarterback Nick Foles, all of whom provided testimony to the jury and helped lead the Eagles to a 41-33 win in Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots – less than four months after Maragos’s knee injury occurred.
“On Sunday, my team played in the Super Bowl and I could only watch and wonder whether I could have been out there with them, had I received proper medical care. While I live in constant pain and will never get back on the field, I hope this decision sends a message to teams’ medical staffs that players are people, not just contracts,” Maragos said.
The jury found Bradley and his practice bore two-thirds of the liability for Maragos’s damages, with the remaining one-third to be borne by Rothman Orthopaedics.
“This case and this jury may have changed the course of history by now forcing these team doctors and trainers to stop worrying about when a player might return to play and start thinking about the next 50 years of a player’s life. Rather than prioritize Chris’ health, his medical team hastily advanced his activities – including running on dry land – which ended an amazing NFL career and started him down a path of pain, suffering, immobility and several future knee replacements. I want to thank the jury for holding Dr. Bradley and Rothman Orthopaedics responsible for ending Chris’s career,” plaintiff counsel Dion G. Rassias stated.
“This verdict will not bring back Chris’s NFL career, but we are grateful the Maragos family finally got a measure of justice. But, this is only the beginning in our effort to demand further accountability for professional sports franchises and ethical treatment for athletes. This jury’s verdict serves as a reminder that any team’s doctor, in any sport, who jeopardizes the well-being of its players due to contractual obligations or financial incentives, will be held accountable for their misconduct,” plaintiff co-counsel Peter J. Flowers added.
The plaintiff was represented by Dion G. Rassias and Jill Johnston of The Beasley Firm in Philadelphia, plus Peter J. Flowers and Frank V. Cesarone of Meyers Flowers, in Chicago, Ill.
The defendants were represented by Theresa Folino, John C. Conti, Lisa D. Dauer, Steven Ettinger, Alyssa M. Dedola and Justin M. Gottwald of Dickie McCamey & Chilcote in Pittsburgh, Steven F. Reilly, Melissa L. Mazur and Lisa J. Peters of O’Brien & Ryan in Plymouth Meeting and Alexandra R. Woolsey of Burns White in West Conshohocken.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 191100972
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com