In an editorial, the New York Times (4/12, Subscription Publication) encourages Judge Anita Brody of Philadelphia’s Federal District Court to allow over 200 grouped cases filed by over 4,000 retired National Football League players against the league to proceed. The lawsuits allege the NFL failed “to protect players from chronic risks of head injuries routinely inflicted in professional football games – and then willfully concealing those risks from players.” The Times notes a “an extensive study of brain samples from deceased football and hockey players, military veterans and others who suffered repeated hits to the head added to the mounting evidence of a link between head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., an incurable, degenerative disease leading to dementia and depression.” The editorial board concludes that following “years of debate in the volatile court of public opinion, the place to address and resolve these serious and important charges is in a steady and independent court of law.”
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— “Brain Disease and the N.F.L., “The Editorial Board, The New York Times, April 11, 2013.