A jury in a US court in Philadelphia on Monday awarded former football player Chris Maragos $43.5 million. The ex-Philadelphia Eagles player sued the medical team treating his injured knee.
Maragos suffered a knee injury playing against the Carolina Panthers in 2017. Doctors diagnosed a torn posterior cruciate ligament and operated on the then 31-year-old.
Shortly thereafter, the orthopedists who looked after him prescribed exercise again and allowed the then NFL professional to walk on solid ground, among other things. In May 2018, an MRI showed the injury had worsened and he was suffering from a torn meniscus. Eventually, Maragos' knee never recovered and he was forced to retire from professional football the following year.
Maragos sued his doctors and has now been awarded $43.5 million for alleged medical errors, as reported by several US media. According to his lawyers, they should not have allowed him any further activities in view of the results of the investigation. The prescribed rehabilitation measures ultimately led to excessive strain on the knee and further complications.
The doctors' lawyers, on the other hand, argued that Maragos suffered a meniscus injury in an incident in the weight room several months after his surgery. They also pointed out the ex-player's age at the time of his surgery and that he had been playing in the NFL for eight years, suggesting his career might not have lasted much longer.
Maragos, now 36, believes he could still play if he had been treated right. "On Sunday my team played the Super Bowl and all I could do was watch and wonder if I could have been out there with them if I had had proper medical care," he said. "Although I live in constant pain and will never return to the field, I hope this decision sends a message to teams' medical staff that players are people, not just contracts."
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