Apr 9, 2015Former NFL Player’s Suit Blames Athletic Trainer For MRSA
Lawrence Tynes, a former NFL kicker whose career ended due to a MRSA infection in 2013, filed a $20 million lawsuit claiming that the team’s former athletic trainer, Tom Toriscelli, was the source of the infection.
As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, Tynes had the nail of his big toe on his kicking foot trimmed during the 2013 preseason—something he did every year. But after two days of treatment at the team’s facility, he was feverish, and the toe was red and swollen. He then spoke to the team’s athletic trainers
“That’s when we started the regimen of take this, take that, take this every two days and they were switching what they were giving me,” he said.
But the infection didn’t heal. Tynes’ lawsuit claims that Toriscelli—who had gotten MRSA after several knee surgeries—”admitted to close friends,” that his infection caused the kicker’s MRSA. The two apparently used the same therapy equipment and hot and cold tubs. Tynes’ lawsuit also claims that “unsanitary conditions” at the team facility constituted negligence, and that the team “failed to disclose and actively concealed ongoing incidents of infection” among other players. Guard Carl Nicks contracted MRSA during the 2013 preseason, and reached a $3 million settlement with the team in August 2014 before deciding “to step away from the game.”
Tynes’ lawsuit seeks money for expected future earnings, as he is unable to kick without severe pain:
“It just hasn’t worked out. I’m reminded every morning when I step out of bed on my feet that I had MRSA. It hurts every morning. It hurts every day,” he said. “It’s hard when something is taken away from you through no fault of your own. ”