A typical collision in an NFL game. Retired footballers abuse opioid pain pills at a rate more than four times the general population. Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Images.
Powerful league under pressure from class action lawsuit and DEA investigation
Some former NFL players are alleging that before games they were given Toradol, an anti-inflammatory drug commonly used on racehorses, to numb the pain they would inevitably suffer in jarring collisions. Others recall flights back from matches during which trainers walked down the aisle of the team plane with briefcases full of painkillers. The players were encouraged to wash them down with beer.
Almost all report a systemic culture in which doctors routinely dispensed pills “like candy at Halloween” with the expressed purpose of enabling injured players to take the field. There were never any cautionary instructions about the potential side-effects of taking so much medication – only talk about the importance of donning helmet and pads for the next crucial fixture…………. see more at :- http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/former-nfl-players-revolt-against-pill-popping-no-pain-no-gain-culture-1.2007876