The lawyer representing the family of former hockey tough guy Derek Boogaard says a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the National Hockey League is aimed at changing the way players are prescribed pain killers.
Boogaard died two years ago, on May 13, 2011, from an accidental overdose of pain medication and alcohol. He was 28 at the time.
After his death it was determined he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy -- a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma.
William Gibbs, a lawyer representing the family, said Boogaard was used as an enforcer in the NHL, and then given painkillers to help him cope with the pain. He eventually became addicted to those painkillers.
"For a league to put people out on the ice to fight and know they are literally going to be beating themselves up and beating other people up and then giving them amazing amounts of pain medication to deal with the pain inflicted in those fights -- that has to change," Gibbs told CTV's Canada AM on Monday.
He said NHL teams sometimes have up to eight physicians, and there can be little communication between them. Meaning a player could theoretically be receiving multiple prescriptions for the same medication from different doctors.
"Right now there are no checks in place to make sure all those doctors are in proper communication with each other in the way they administer pills to the players," Gibbs said.
The Boogaard family, he said, wants to ensure the NHL is tracking all prescriptions given to players, in order to minimize the risk of addiction.
The family filed a lawsuit against the NHL Players Association last fall, seeking nearly $10 million in compensation. However, that case was thrown out after a judge ruled the family took too long to pursue action against the NHL in that case.
Gibbs said the current case had to be filed within two years of Boogaard's death, something he acknowledged is hard for family trying to mourn the anniversary of his death.
"With the anniversary, which you can imagine for the family is a very difficult time for them, but they really do feel this is a very, very important issue and one that needs to be heard so they were ready, willing and able to understand the timing would be what it is and we would get the law suit instituted, and we did," Gibbs said.
Boogaard was under contract with the New York Rangers at the time of his death. He played his first five NHL seasons with the Minnesota Wild and one season with the Rangers after signing a four-year contract worth $6.5 million with New York in 2010.
Boogaard, who stood 6-foot-7, and weighed 255 pounds, sustained a concussion on Dec. 9, 2010. It was his last game, ending a career that saw him play 277 NHL games, score three goals and accumulate a whopping 589 penalty minutes.
Jim Thompson, another former NHL tough guy who experienced painkiller addiction, has now become a proponent for the removal of fighting from hockey. However, he stopped short of blaming the NHL for Boogaard's plight.
"I'm disappointed that the family are saying it's because of the NHL and the fighting is why he was taking painkillers and living the lifestyle he was. I had a very similar lifestyle but that was my choice every time I took a painkiller. As human beings we have choices," he told Canada AM.
He acknowledged there are holes in the communication system between doctors serving the teams, but said in the end it boils down to individual responsibility.
"When I was taking OxyContin for my broken back I was getting it from three doctors and that was my choice to go to different people and say I have this problem. I was making choices that were wrong and got addicted to it," he said. "We're accountable for our own actions and I decided every time I put a pill in my mouth it was my choice."
