NCAA agrees to $75M settlement in concussion class action
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has agreed to up a medical screening program for all current and former athletes as part of a $75 million settlement in a suit claiming a concussions policy was needed to preserve the health of student athletes.
The preliminary class-action settlement was filed on Tuesday in federal court in Chicago, report the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times and the Associated Press. The agreement calls for doctors trained in concussion diagnosis to be present during games of contact sports. Student athletes with diagnosed concussions would be barred from returning to play on the same day and would have to be cleared by a doctor before future practices or games.
The settlement does not set aside money to compensate players who receive brain injuries, according to AP and the Times. Those athletes will have to file separate suits.
Under the settlement, $70 million will go toward the medical screening program and $5 million to concussion research.
