Former defensive lineman Armond Armstead, USC reach settlement

Former USC defensive lineman Armond Armstead has reached a settlement with the school’s doctor and team physician James Tibone.

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Armond Armstead, a former defensive lineman at USC, accused the school’s medical personnel, namely James Tibone, of improperly injecting him with the painkiller Toradol and causing a heart attack. According to Armstead, he was injected 10 times during his junior season in 2010, reports a story by the LA Times. Toradol is a potent, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that is commonly used both in the NFL and in the NCAA. Armstead said the drug’s risks and side effects were never explained to him, instead he was under the basic impression that it would just let him keep playing.

The settlement prevents the lawsuit from coming to trial, according to a story by Sports Illustrated. Armstead sued the school in 2012, including Tibone and the school health center. He claimed fraud, concealment and negligence due to the doctors injecting him 10 times and not explaining the drug’s risks. He had suffered a heart attack the previous March. The injections of Toradol were reportedly 60 milligrams each time for a shoulder injury that Armstead suffered in his junior year.

Tibone said in his testimony that he didn’t believe Toradol was to blame for Armstead’s heart attack. He said that he had been injecting the drug into players for over a decade and none of them ever had heart attacks.

Armstead’s attorneys released a statement on Wednesday saying that their client believes that Toradol use has not been properly researched as to its effect on long-term health, and especially when it is injected frequently during one season. According to the FDA warning on Toradol, heart attack and stroke are actually listed as possible side effects.

The use of painkillers in the NFL and in college football is no doubt rampant due to the injuries suffered and the need to keep playing. One would hope that Armstead’s case is more of an anomaly than anything, but it’s also possible that he just happened to be one of those experiencing the drug’s side effects. After all, the vast majority of all drugs on the market have a laundry list of side effects that only happen to a small percentage of users.

Armstead was not selected in the NFL draft after he did not play his senior season in college. He signed with the Patriots as a free agent in 2013, but had to retire for medical reasons last year after he had a second heart attack.

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