Bengals trainer mentioned in NFL/Drug lawsuit

[Bengalholic]

The filing, which was prepared by lawyers for the players suing the league, asserts that “every doctor deposed so far . . . has testified that they violated one or more” federal drug laws and regulations “while serving in their capacity as a team doctor.” Anthony Yates, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ team doctor and past president of the NFL Physicians Society, testified in a deposition that “a majority of clubs as of 2010 had trainers controlling and handling prescription medications and controlled substances when they should not have,” the filing states.


At times, team medical staff displayed a cavalier attitude toward federal guidelines that govern dispensing medicine. In August 2009, for example, Paul Sparling, the Cincinnati Bengals’ head trainer, wrote in an email: “Can you have your office fax a copy of your DEA certificate to me? I need it for my records when the NFL ‘pill counters’ come to see if we are doing things right. Don’t worry, I’m pretty good at keeping them off the trail!”


In a November 2010 email, Sparling, the Bengals’ trainer, wrote to his counterpart with the Detroit Lions, complaining about the new program. “Until the new [program] is actually in effect,” he said, “we will continue to do as we have done for the past 42 years. . . . I sure would love to know who blew up the system that worked all these years.”


The Bengals did not make Sparling available for comment or respond to questions about his 2010 email.



http://deadspin.com/lawsuit-nfl-teams-repeatedly-broke-federal-drug-laws-1793146570

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-abuse-of-painkillers-and-other-drugs-described-in-court-filings/2017/03/09/be1a71d8-035a-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html?utm_term=.90fcd005ed20

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

The offseason shit show gets better by the minute.  Didn't Sparling just "reitre"?

[xxlt]

(03-10-2017, 12:05 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: The filing, which was prepared by lawyers for the players suing the league, asserts that “every doctor deposed so far . . . has testified that they violated one or more” federal drug laws and regulations “while serving in their capacity as a team doctor.” Anthony Yates, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ team doctor and past president of the NFL Physicians Society, testified in a deposition that “a majority of clubs as of 2010 had trainers controlling and handling prescription medications and controlled substances when they should not have,” the filing states.


At times, team medical staff displayed a cavalier attitude toward federal guidelines that govern dispensing medicine. In August 2009, for example, Paul Sparling, the Cincinnati Bengals’ head trainer, wrote in an email: “Can you have your office fax a copy of your DEA certificate to me? I need it for my records when the NFL ‘pill counters’ come to see if we are doing things right. Don’t worry, I’m pretty good at keeping them off the trail!”

The Bengals did not make Sparling available for comment or respond to questions about his 2010 email.


In a November 2010 email, Sparling, the Bengals’ trainer, wrote to his counterpart with the Detroit Lions, complaining about the new program. “Until the new [program] is actually in effect,” he said, “we will continue to do as we have done for the past 42 years. . . . I sure would love to know who blew up the system that worked all these years.”



http://deadspin.com/lawsuit-nfl-teams-repeatedly-broke-federal-drug-laws-1793146570

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-abuse-of-painkillers-and-other-drugs-described-in-court-filings/2017/03/09/be1a71d8-035a-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html?utm_term=.90fcd005ed20

The first quote reads as sarcasm. The second indicates Sparling thought the new program was solving a problem that didn't exist. Maybe he was wrong about that - maybe the league was playing fast and loose with drug laws, but I wouldn't look for Sparling's picture in the Post Office any time soon. I would bet dollars to donuts he wasn't doing anything that involved illegal drugs, that his administration of medication was not reckless, and that if there were legal issues and laws that were skirted by standard operating procedure league wide he really didn't know that.

[Bengalholic]

(03-10-2017, 12:39 PM)xxlt Wrote: The first quote reads as sarcasm. The second indicates Sparling thought the new program was solving a problem that didn't exist. Maybe he was wrong about that - maybe the league was playing fast and loose with drug laws, but I wouldn't look for Sparling's picture in the Post Office any time soon. I would bet dollars to donuts he wasn't doing anything that involved illegal drugs, that his administration of medication was not reckless, and that if there were legal issues and laws that were skirted by standard operating procedure league wide he really didn't know that.

There's a lot involved in the lawsuit and it will be interesting to see how it plays out and what all is revealed.

The Bengals were among the teams that were named in the Washington Post report as having received warning letters about nonlicensed team personnel, such as athletic trainers, dispensing medication.

[xxlt]

(03-10-2017, 01:13 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: There's a lot involved in the lawsuit and it will be interesting to see how it plays out and what all is revealed. 

The Bengals were among the teams that were named in the Washington Post report as having received warning letters stating that about nonlicensed team personnel, such as athletic trainers, dispensing medication.

Yeah, sounds like one of those in the real world type of things to me...

Yes, at 3 in the morning you still stop at a red light, but if you can see for miles and miles in any direction and there are no other cars on the road do you really need to sit there for 8 minutes until it changes?

If the school nurse flips a bottle of aspirin to the secretary and says, "Hey, that kid just went to use the bathroom, and she has a headache and no fever - when she comes back give her two of these so I can go ahead and take care of this other kid..." is that the crime of the century?

If the trainer administers pain or other medication per the doctor's (decades old and unchanging) recommendations and the doctor doesn't do it himself I just don't see it as a big deal. It sounds like it was that sort of level at which this "scandal" unfolded. Am I missing something?

[grampahol]

There is a line in the WAPO article that's pretty damning  for Sparling not mentioned in the OP..

Quote:“Can you have your office fax a copy of your DEA certificate to me? I need it for my records when the NFL ‘pill counters’ come to see if we are doing things right. Don’t worry, I’m pretty good at keeping them off the trail!"

While I very much disagree with  the WOD (war on  drugs) and think that we as citizens should be allowed to manage pain as we see fit teams still have to follow the rules just like the rest of us.
If NFL teams are going to get a pass and  let people who have no medical certification (trainers etc.)  to administer narcotic pain killers then the rest of us should have the same options. 

[grampahol]

In case the OP is citing a different article here's the one I read. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-abuse-of-painkillers-and-other-drugs-described-in-court-filings/2017/03/09/be1a71d8-035a-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_nfldrugs815p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ceb96330c083

[grampahol]

(03-10-2017, 01:23 PM)xxlt Wrote: Yeah, sounds like one of those in the real world type of things to me...

Yes, at 3 in the morning you still stop at a red light, but if you can see for miles and miles in any direction and there are no other cars on the road do you really need to sit there for 8 minutes until it changes?

If the school nurse flips a bottle of aspirin to the secretary and says, "Hey, that kid just went to use the bathroom, and she has a headache and no fever - when she comes back give her two of these so I can go ahead and take care of this other kid..." is that the crime of the century?

If the trainer administers pain or other medication per the doctor's (decades old and unchanging) recommendations and the doctor doesn't do it himself I just don't see it as a big deal. It sounds like it was that sort of level at which this "scandal" unfolded. Am I missing something?

What you're missing is the NFL and teams have been violating federal drug control laws with little to no oversight while the rest of us have our feet held to the fire and would face long prison sentences for doing the very same thing. 
Suppose it was some other much more serious crimes..Let's just go way beyond the scope of the article and make up some other illegal activities such as murder for example. Should NFL teams be exempt from those laws as well and we should just look the other way just to stay competitive? 
Of course I'm in no way accusing teams of such crimes, but if you and me are going to be held accountable then so should NFL teams .
Don't try to minimize this as being along the same lines as running a red light or giving a kid an aspirin. This is illegally dispensing narcotics on a mass scale, not misdemeanor traffic violations.

[BonnieBengal]

Sounds like this is going to be very expensive for Mike Brown. Maybe that's why he's not spending any money. I wish he would sell the team if he can't afford to run one correctly.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(03-10-2017, 01:44 PM)grampahol Wrote: There is a line in the WAPO article that's pretty damning  for Sparling not mentioned in the OP..

While I very much disagree with  the WOD (war on  drugs) and think that we as citizens should be allowed to manage pain as we see fit teams still have to follow the rules just like the rest of us.
If NFL teams are going to get a pass and  let people who have no medical certification (trainers etc.)  to administer narcotic pain killers then the rest of us should have the same options. 

He asked for a copy of a DEA certificate for recording keeping purposes. That is standard practice. That doesn't delegate prescribing authority to a trainer. From that quote, I don't detect any misconduct. 

Matter of fact, I just turned in a copy of my DEA certificate today.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(03-10-2017, 01:23 PM)xxlt Wrote: Yeah, sounds like one of those in the real world type of things to me...

Yes, at 3 in the morning you still stop at a red light, but if you can see for miles and miles in any direction and there are no other cars on the road do you really need to sit there for 8 minutes until it changes?

If the school nurse flips a bottle of aspirin to the secretary and says, "Hey, that kid just went to use the bathroom, and she has a headache and no fever - when she comes back give her two of these so I can go ahead and take care of this other kid..." is that the crime of the century?

If the trainer administers pain or other medication per the doctor's (decades old and unchanging) recommendations and the doctor doesn't do it himself I just don't see it as a big deal. It sounds like it was that sort of level at which this "scandal" unfolded. Am I missing something?

You shouldn't give kids aspirin. 

[Murdock2420]

(03-10-2017, 05:06 PM)BonnieBengal Wrote: Sounds like this is going to be very expensive for Mike Brown.  Maybe that's why he's not spending any money.  I wish he would sell the team if he can't afford to run one correctly.

Wait...that is now all I want for Christmas. For this story to somehow implicate Mike Brown in a way that gets him tossed into prison and stripped of the team like that Enron scandal.

Please sweet baby Jesus, or Buddha, or Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whichever deity I must pledge allegiance to for this to happen.






P.S. Yes I know the Enron guy was stealing money and screwing people over, but isn't that exactly what Mikey is doing to all of us?

[BonnieBengal]

(03-10-2017, 06:33 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: Wait...that is now all I want for Christmas. For this story to somehow implicate Mike Brown in a way that gets him tossed into prison and stripped of the team like that Enron scandal.

Please sweet baby Jesus, or Buddha, or Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whichever deity I must pledge allegiance to for this to happen.






P.S. Yes I know the Enron guy was stealing money and screwing people over, but isn't that exactly what Mikey is doing to all of us?

I don't need him to go to prison.  But at this point if he were forced to sell the team, I would not be sad.  Grasping at any straw I can.

[xxlt]

(03-10-2017, 01:57 PM)grampahol Wrote: What you're missing is the NFL and teams have been violating federal drug control laws with little to no oversight while the rest of us have our feet held to the fire and would face long prison sentences for doing the very same thing. 
Suppose it was some other much more serious crimes..Let's just go way beyond the scope of the article and make up some other illegal activities such as murder for example. Should NFL teams be exempt from those laws as well and we should just look the other way just to stay competitive? 
Of course I'm in no way accusing teams of such crimes, but if you and me are going to be held accountable then so should NFL teams .
Don't try to minimize this as being along the same lines as running a red light or giving a kid an aspirin. This is illegally dispensing narcotics on a mass scale, not misdemeanor traffic violations.

Okey dokey smokey.

[xxlt]

(03-10-2017, 06:02 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: He asked for a copy of a DEA certificate for recording keeping purposes. That is standard practice. That doesn't delegate prescribing authority to a trainer. From that quote, I don't detect any misconduct. 

Matter of fact, I just turned in a copy of my DEA certificate today.

Well, you're making a molehill out of a mountain!


Or at least that is one way to look at it.

I think you are making a mole out of a mole - I don't even think it is a raised mole, certainly not a hill.

[xxlt]

(03-10-2017, 06:03 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: You shouldn't give kids aspirin. 

I figured I would get lit up for that.

I'm old school. I figure save their livers for alcohol to destroy them - don't let the anti-inflammatory meds do that. Roll the dice with Norwich!