Lawyers for former Dolphins wide receiver O.J. McDuffie filed a complaint in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court on Friday accusing former and current team physicians of malpractice and gross negligence in the treatment of McDuffie's 1999 left big toe injury.
Herman Russomanno, the lead attorney for McDuffie, said he expects to ask for a ''multimillion dollar'' settlement in the case based on what he says was a ``betrayal of trust.''
The suit could eventually include other current and former members of the Dolphins staff, such as former coach Jimmy Johnson.
''O.J. had a relationship with the team physicians and believed that they were giving him the best information,'' said Russomanno, a past president of the Florida Bar Association whose expertise is malpractice. ``He was lulled into a false sense of security.
``O.J. is smart enough that if they had leveled with him and told him the full extent of what was wrong, he said he would have made the choice to not play and heal properly.''
Former Dolphins team physician Dr. John Uribe, current team physician Dr. Dan Kanell and radiologist Dr. Michael Thorpe were named as defendants in the suit. In addition, HealthSouth Doctors' Hospital in Coral Gables, where Uribe and Thorpe work, and Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, where Kanell works, were named.
The defendants have 20 days to formally respond to the suit once they are notified. Uribe was unavailable for comment. Kanell and Thorpe declined to comment.
Russomanno, who is working with attorneys Howard Weinberg and Robert Fiore, said Uribe is the ''main doctor'' in the suit. The complaint said Uribe cleared McDuffie to play and injected McDuffie multiple times with anesthetic substances, such as cortisone, to dull the pain of an injury he suffered Nov. 21, 1999, against New England.
McDuffie suffered muscle and tendon injuries to the toe. One of the claims in the complaint is that McDuffie was told by Uribe that he would have a ''complete recovery'' and would ''heal without incident.'' That claim is based on written reports by Dolphins trainer Kevin O'Neill in December 1999, after McDuffie had a second magnetic resonance imaging exam on the toe.
According to Russomanno, Uribe said those things despite the fact McDuffie was not advised to see a foot specialist until after the season.
Since the end of the 1999 season, McDuffie has undergone three surgeries on the toe. However, he said in March he still suffers pain and would be unable to participate in the offseason conditioning program if he were still with the team.
The Dolphins cut McDuffie on Feb. 28 after the team and his attorneys failed to reach agreement on language regarding the status of his injury.
McDuffie did not play last season and was limited to nine games and 14 catches in 2000. In 1998, he set a team record with 90 receptions -- a figure that also led the NFL. He finished his career with 415 receptions -- fourth on the Dolphins' all-time list.
Weinberg said McDuffie, 32, would still be playing if not for the negligence.
''After an exhaustive investigation, I am absolutely convinced that if not for the gross negligence and malpractice by the professionals that O.J. trusted, Dolphins fans would have been treated to the thrills of the league's best receiving tandem, [Chris] Chambers and McDuffie,'' Weinberg said.
from the Miami Herald (
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/sports/football/nfl/miami_dolphins/3425638.htm)
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