The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has settled litigation that calls for the group to provide $70 million for concussion testing of current and former NCAA student-athletes.
Former NCAA players filed a class action lawsuit against the NCAA in 2011, charging the association with failing to adopt appropriate rules regarding concussions. While it denied the allegations, the NCAA agreed on July 30 to settle the lawsuit.
Among other provisions, the settlement sets up a $70 million fund to establish a medical monitoring program that will pay for evaluations of former athletes. The program will issue requests for proposals (RFPs) to medical institutions in at least 10 geographic regions to provide the evaluations.
The program will provide baseline concussion testing of NCAA student-athletes, as well as protocols barring athletes with diagnosed concussions from playing or practicing. It also provides for screening evaluations of athletes who wish to be examined, with questions including whether the athlete has the potential for suicide.
