Do no harm: Who should bear the costs of retired NFL players’ medical bills?

from todays post
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By late next week, every NFL team will be in training camp. Preseason games start in less than three weeks, and the league’s regular season kicks off in early September. Football is almost back, which is great news for fans.

But anyone who has been reading The Post’s compelling series on NFL injuries, “Do No Harm,” might struggle to look at the game the same way as players get back on the field. My colleagues Rick Maese and Sally Jenkins recently revealed details about the NFL’s warped medical culture. Players rely on pain killers to stay in the game, team medical personnel utilize questionable short-term cures to get their patients back on the field and former players often are unable to afford the staggering costs of medical care. The NFL’s insufficient support for its alumni is the most troubling issue.

The league has fallen embarrassingly short in addressing the football-related medical problems many players face years after retirement. The NFL has become professional sports’ biggest moneymaker, and owners should do whatever is necessary to provide players and former players with the best medical care later in life. For the NFL, substantially increasing its financial commitment for the health care of retirees — and making it easier for former players to receive benefits — is the right thing to do. And in the long run, it would also make good business sense...................

NFL needs to use its dominant status to take care of players who helped build it - The Washington Post