A WEEK DOES NOT GO BY WITHOUT A PLAYER FROM THE NFL GETTING IN TROUBLE. WHILE ALCOHOL AND DRUGS AND DUIS GET THE MAJORITY OF ATTENTION, THE REAL PROBLEM IS PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION.
Players like to joke that there's another name for the "minor car crashes" they survived. In football, they're known as "plays." As reported in www.startribune.com.
With violent collisions a key part of America's favorite game; it's clear why so many players leave the field -- and eventually, the sport -- with the lingering aches and pains of car accident victims.
Given that, reports of widespread use and abuse of painkillers by current and former players, while troubling, should come as no surprise.
The NFL already faces lawsuits from players alleging that the league didn't inform them of the long-term risk of concussions.
The biggest questions for me are: first, is the league doing all it can to prevent concussions, and second, is it doing all it can to prevent and treat addiction to pain medication.
The situation is this: pressure-filled locker rooms where aging or injured players fearful of a subpar performance too often have easy access to prescription painkillers from team physicians.
Of particular concern: The routine use before games of an injectable prescription drug called ketorolac, sometimes sold under the name Toradol. The drug is typically used for people who've had surgery, and has been shown to deliver pain relief comparable to morphine.
The truth is that many players blithely take the drug on a preventive basis before games -- possibly up to 16 to 20 times a season.
So what has the league done about it? They are considering banning it. That is not enough. The league needs to implement league-wide drug classes to educate all players on the drugs they take and to keep them from taking anything that may be problematic.