The family of Derek Boogaard, a former NHL player, who died of an accidental overdose of pain medication and alcohol, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the league, blaming it for brain damage he suffered as a routine fighter on the ice and for an addiction to painkillers, the Associated Press reported.
Boogaard, at 28, was found dead on May 13, 2011, and was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease that can be caused by repeated blows to the head, according to the 55-page lawsuit filed in Cook County on Friday.
"Prior to and during Derek Boogaard's career, the NHL knew, or should have known, that the enforcers/fighters in the NHL had an increased risk of brain damage due concussive and sub-concussive brain trauma and were particularly susceptible to addiction issues," the lawsuit reads.
In his playing career, the AP reported that he took part in at least 66 on-ice fights in the 2008-2009 season with the Minnesota Wild. He received 1,021 prescriptions from NHL doctors, trainers and staff, the lawsuit also said.
In April, 2011, the NHL "knew, or should have known, that Derek Boogaard, a known drug addict, with probable brain damage due to concussive brain traumas sustained in NHL fights, was not complying with treatment (at a treatment center)," the suit alleges. Boogaard was under contract with the New York Rangers at the time of his death. He sustained a concussion during his last game on December 9, 2010.
Previously the Boogaard family had filed a lawsuit against the NHL Players Association last September but was dismissed in the spring. The family said the union, after expressing interest in pursuing a case against the league then missed a deadline for filing a grievance, and the judge said the family had waited too long act.
This lawsuit chronicles the treatment the player received from doctors of the Rangers and Minnesota Wild, and the officials at the league's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program who oversaw his care once he entered rehabilitation with the Wild in 2009.
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