Court officials supervising the NFL’s $1 billion concussion settlement have banned five law firms from processing additional claims after discovering they fraudulently directed former players to physicians who would diagnose Parkinson’s disease regardless of whether symptoms were present.
These five firms handled cases for 98 retired players seeking substantial six- and seven-figure settlements for Parkinson’s disease claims in recent years, according to special masters who help manage the settlement. Their findings were documented in a report submitted Monday to U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.
Among these cases, 37 are still waiting for approval and will now be rejected, though players can begin the claims process again. However, 57 cases had already been approved, resulting in payments exceeding $95 million before an audit was triggered by reports of questionable activity. Legal fees from these cases totaled approximately $20 million, and the report suggests additional firms may have participated in similar misconduct.
The document described it as “an organized scheme … in which these law firms — and potentially others — circumvented the Settlement’s anti-fraud safeguards and laundered questionable Parkinson’s Disease diagnoses into payable claims.”
Among the lawyers implicated was Bart Oates, a former three-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers who obtained his law degree during his NFL career. Oates did not respond to The Associated Press’s request for comment left at his law firm.
The NFL established this fund in 2013 as part of a 65-year settlement to resolve class-action lawsuits alleging the league concealed knowledge about neurological dangers following concussions. The program provides retired players with baseline evaluations and compensation reaching $5 million for the most severe conditions connected to football-related head injuries, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and deaths from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
The league has previously raised concerns about physician shopping and other fraudulent activities in fund distribution, while some player representatives have criticized the NFL for creating barriers to payment. In 2019, a judge removed three of four class counsel attorneys after they opposed geographic limitations on doctors authorized to assess retired players for dementia and other brain conditions.
“The NFL remains committed to ensuring that players and their families receive the benefits they deserve, and any misconduct threatens the integrity of the Settlement and the prompt payment of legitimate claims,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy told the AP. “We are pleased with the Special Masters’ Decision, which sends a clear message that fraud in the NFL Concussion Settlement Program will not be tolerated.”
Settlement rules specify that only program-contracted physicians can provide qualifying diagnoses. These doctors must hold board certification, possess neurological expertise, and follow anti-influence guidelines preventing fraud or kickbacks.
According to the report, the law firms bypassed these requirements by recruiting retired players as clients and directing them to unauthorized doctors who diagnosed Parkinson’s and prescribed symptom-suppressing medications.
In one instance, retired players gathered in a Dallas hotel lobby to meet with a traveling physician who had rented a suite specifically for Parkinson’s examinations, the report stated. Another unauthorized doctor used by these firms lacked board certification and movement disorder specialization, and would have been disqualified anyway due to previous bankruptcy, tax liens and civil judgments.
Following diagnosis and prescription from unauthorized physicians, the firms sent clients to approved doctors who faced difficulty determining whether the former player actually had the disease, since the player was already taking symptom-suppressing medication. These approved physicians typically could only rely on previous medical records: the earlier diagnosis and current prescription.
The report named the involved law firms as Douglas Grossinger, Attorney at Law; Feder Law, LLC; Pro Athlete Law Firm, P.A.; Syme Law, PLLC; and Reppert Oates & Vytell, LLC. It indicated the scheme originated with Grossinger, who then enlisted other attorneys to submit claims on his behalf to avoid suspicion from filing numerous Parkinson’s cases.
While Oates didn’t distribute claims to other attorneys, he employed similar diagnostic practices, with sources telling auditors he “cold-called Retired NFL Players, promising a Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease” if players transferred from other law firms to his.
“By structuring their clients’ evaluations in this way, Mr. Grossinger and ROV deliberately put (approved) Physicians in a position where they had little choice but to defer to manufactured outside records,” the report stated.
Grossinger, licensed in New York, refused to provide on-record comments to the AP. Pennsylvania-based Fred Feder responded via text that he would not comment without consulting his attorney. The AP could not immediately verify contact details for Syme Law or Pro Athlete Law Firm.
