Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A Philadelphia jury found that doctors showed "medical negligence" in treating former Philadelphia Eagles defender Chris Maragos for a knee injury and awarded the retired NFL player $43.5 million, his lawyers announced.
Meyes & Flowers trial attorneys said Dr. James Bradley, an orthopedic surgeon, and Rothman Orthopaedics Institute were ordered to pay Maragos, who sustained the injuries in an Oct. 12, 2017, game against the Carolina Panthers and never played again.
Former Eagles players Nick Foles, Trey Burton and Jordan Hicks testified as part of a two-week trial in front of common pleas judge Charles J. Cunningham III.
"On Sunday, my team played the Super Bowl, and I could only watch and wonder whether I could have been out there with him had I received proper medical care," Maragos said in a news release.
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"While I live in constant pain and will never get back on the field, I hope this decision sends a message to teams' medical staffs that players are people, not just contracts."
Maragos sued Bradley and Rothman Orthopedics Institute in 2019, alleging that doctors ignored damage to his meniscus when they repaired a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Bradley performed that surgery and oversaw Maragos' rehabilitation, along with Rothman Orthopaedics Institute.
CBS Philadelphia reported that an MRI later found that additional damage to Maragos' knee, but doctors allowed him to continue rehabilitation, which he alleged led to additional complications.
The Washington Post reported that Bradley and the other medical professionals who cared for Maragos said his meniscus was stable and felt surgery was not the correct option.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that jurors deliberated Monday for less than three hours. The 12-member panel on Monday ordered Bradley to pay about $29.2 million and Rothman to pay the remaining $14.3 million.
"Unfortunately," Rothman attorney Melissa L. Mazur told the jury, according to the Inquirer. "[Maragos] just had a really, really bad injury that he couldn't come back from."
Maragos, 36, entered the NFL in 2010 as an undrafted free agent signing by the San Francisco 49ers. He spent the next three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. Maragos joined the Eagles in 2014. He won a Super Bowl in 2014 with the Seahawks and in 2018 with the Eagles.
