Former Eagles' Captain Chris Maragos Wins $43.5 Million in Malpractice Case

The former special team star won his lawsuit for a premature and unnecessary end to his NFL career due to the improper care of his right knee injury

USA Today

A Philadelphia jury ruled Monday that orthopedic surgeons Dr. James Bradley and Rothman Orthopaedics were responsible for the premature and unnecessary end of Chris Maragos’ NFL career.

The former Eagles special teams star and team captain suffered what turned out to be a career-ending injury during the team's  2017 Super Bowl season.

The civil case claimed that Margaos' medical team failed to treat a meniscus tear, along with his PCL injury, yet made a medically negligent decision to advance his rehab which further damaged the knee and ended Maragos' playing career.

During the two-week trial, the jury heard testimony from Maragos’ former teammates Nick Foles, Trey Burton, and Jordan Hicks. The jury decided that two distinct medical charts were created for Maragos, one of which failed to include key notes about his injury and recovery.

“This case and this jury may have changed the course of history by now forcing these team doctors and trainers to stop worrying about when a player might return to play and start thinking about the next 50 years of a player’s life,” said attorney Dion G. Rassias, part of the team representing Maragos.

Maragos, now 36, believes he still could be playing if he had been treated properly.

“On Sunday, my team played in the Super Bowl, and I could only watch and wonder whether I could have been out there with them had I received proper medical care,” said Maragos. “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 suffered his injury on Oct. 12, 2017, against the Carolina Panthers. The injury was originally diagnosed as a torn right posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). Dr. Bradley performed a surgical repair of Maragos’ right knee and then oversaw and directed the post-operative treatment with the support of Rothman Orthopaedics.

By May 2018, an MRI revealed that Maragos’ injury had been getting worse and that he was suffering from a persistent partial tear. As testified to during the trial, Dr. Bradley and Rothman Orthopaedics should have held off on advancing Maragos’ activities in light of the results of this MRI.

Instead, they released Maragos, allowing him to advance his rehab to include running on dry land. Those activities resulted in undue stress on Maragos’ knee, leading to further complications and ultimately the premature end of Maragos’ NFL career, according to the testimony.

“Rather than prioritize Chris’ health, his medical team hastily advanced his activities – including running on dry land – which ended an amazing NFL career and started him down a path of pain, suffering, immobility, and several future knee replacements,” said Rassias. “I want to thank the jury for holding Dr. Bradley and Rothman Orthopaedics responsible for ending Chris’ career.”

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen