Ex-Flyer Sues Team

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. April 9, 2002 — In a medical malpractice lawsuit that goes to the heart of sports culture, a former NHL player claims he was forced to play hurt, effectively ending his career.

Dave Babych, a defenseman who played with five NHL teams between 1980 and 1999, is suing the Comcast-Spectacor, owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, and the team's doctor, saying he was pressured to play in the 1998 playoffs despite a serious foot injury.

"If he wins, there could be some effect of this on the role of team doctors," said Mark Conrad, who teaches sports law at Fordham University. "But of course, that's a big `if."'

Babych's case stems from a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 8, 1998, when an opposing player's slapshot broke Babych's left foot.

Two weeks later, the Flyers started an opening-round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres. After a shot of a painkiller, Babych took the ice.

In a deposition last June, Babych said he tried to skate before the game, but found it hurt too much to push off with his left foot. He went to the locker room and began taking off his equipment.

Babych said his coach, Roger Neilson, told him he had to play, and Dr. Arthur Bartolozzi said he could _ and agreed to freeze the player's foot so he wouldn't feel the pain.

Babych went on to play all five games in the series against Buffalo, and even scored a goal in the final one, which ended his team's season. Babych played for the Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings the following season and briefly in Europe in the 1999-2000.

But playing hurt effectively ended his career, the 40-year-old Babych claims. He and his wife are seeking $2 million in lost income plus unspecified damages in the suit they filed in 2000.

Over the years, several athletes have filed similar suits, but Conrad said most have been settled out of court.

There have been exceptions:

-Former Flyer Glen Seabrooke was awarded $5.5 million in 1995. He alleged that a team doctor improperly rehabilitated his left shoulder after Seabrooke crashed into a goalpost while a member of the minor league Hershey Bears.

-Ex-Chicago Bear Merril Hoge was awarded $1.55 million in 2000. He claimed he was improperly cleared to play after suffering a concussion.

The lawsuits themselves are the exception a world where athletes pride themselves on playing hurt, said Jennifer L. Crispen, an associate professor of physical education at Sweet Briar College in Virginia and a scholar of sports culture.

"I don't really know how clear it is the contracting organization forces the playing," Crispen said. "We have an expectation of playing through pain."

The Babych trial is scheduled to open in July. The case is being tried in Atlantic City because the Flyers operate a skating facility there. The potential witness list includes some big names from the Philadelphia sports world, including Eric Lindros, the New York Rangers center who feuded with the Flyers over his medical treatment when he played in Philadelphia, and 76ers guard Eric Snow.

Babych's lawyer, Tim McIllwain, said Snow is unlikely to testify.

Neilson, now an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators, denied Babych's version of his role last month and called the suit "absolutely crazy."

A lawyer for the Flyers' owner said the suit is groundless.

"We're confident that Mr. Babych received the very best medical care," said William Riina, a lawyer for Comcast-Spectacor.

Neither Bartolozzi nor his lawyer, John A. Talvacchia, returned telephone calls seeking comment Tuesday. But in a deposition last year, Bartolozzi said he was serving his patient and not the Flyers with his decision to clear Babych.

"The players are my patients, so I take care of the players as my patient," Bartolozzi said.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP