PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NFL concussion fund has paid out nearly $500 million in its first two years Kyler Murray Jersey , but some players’ lawyers say there aren’t enough doctors in the approved network to evaluate dementia claims.They went to court Tuesday to oppose a rule to require retired players to be tested by doctors within 150 miles (241 kilometers) of home to prevent “doctor shopping” and suspected fraud.Fund administrator Orran Brown said ex-players from around the country had flocked to four doctors now dismissed from the program who had “high-volume” traffic and some suspect findings.“We didn’t notice it until the claims were coming in,” Brown said. “Forty-six million dollars went out the door on these claims before we could flag it.”Retired players can seek awards of as much as $3 million for moderate dementia and $1.5 million for mild dementia, although most men would get far less based on their age and years in the league. The settlement resolves thousands of lawsuits that alleged the NFL long hid what it knew about the risk of concussions.Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody, who has overseen the case since 2011, suggested the travel limit is needed to prevent abuse.“A few were brought to my attention where we had a lawyer from Pennsylvania and a player from Florida going to a doctor in Texas. And that was a red flag,” Brody said.Philadelphia lawyer Gene Locks, who represents some 1,100 retired players, urged Brody not to adopt the rule, saying his clients agreed to the settlement believing they could choose their own doctors.“They had bad experiences with the NFL benefit program, both during their playing time and after their playing time, when they felt they were used and abused, and were not going to the doctors they wanted to,” Locks argued.He said there are at least 30 different subspecialties of neurology, only a few of them well-suited to evaluate his clients.Brown acknowledged he’s still trying to recruit doctors in some parts of the country for the program. He suggested Brody adopt the 150-mile (241-kilometer) rule but allow him to grant exceptions. The fund, expected to pay out more than $1 billion over 65 years http://www.billscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-dawson-knox-jersey , has paid out $485 million so far, and another $174 million in claims have been approved, Brown said.The NFL has appealed about 30% of the approved claims, but closer to 15% if the four doctors removed from the program aren’t counted, according to players lawyer David Buchanan.If someone wants to travel “to see a world-renowned physician, or a world-renowned neuropsychologist, they should have that right,” Buchanan said.Lawyers for the NFL monitored the hearing but did not take part in Tuesday’s arguments.The settlement, forged in 2013 and later amended, offers more than 20,000 retired players baseline testing and compensation of up to $5 million for the most serious illnesses linked to football concussions, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and deaths involving chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.Many of the more serious — and more straightforward — claims were settled in the first years of the program. Not that long ago, the Chicago Cubs probably viewed a series against the Cincinnati Reds as a near-guaranteed way to pick up some quick victories and gain some ground in the National League Central standings.
Those days have changed. And so is the Cubs-Reds rivalry.
The Cubs couldn’t hold a multi-run lead for the second straight night http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dexter-lawrence-jersey , and the Reds won their fifth in a row and eighth in 10 games — quite a run for a team that played .250 ball for the first month-plus of the season — by rallying for a 6-3 victory on Friday night.
Now, the Cubs are expected to ask their bullpen to carry them through the third game of the four-game series Saturday at Great American Ball Park — a series that isn’t going much like most of those Cubs-Reds matchups for the last four seasons.
Going into the series, the Cubs were 43-19 against the Reds since 2015, but the Reds are playing much differently now than they did when they were 8-27 on May 7. They’re 4-0 on their current homestand, even though they still remain well below .500 at 30-45.
“Even when we were losing, they (his veteran players) felt like, ‘We’re a good ballclub, we’re going to get our share (of wins),'” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “(When) we’re on a roll like this, they feel like we’re just going to keep going with it.”
Eugenio Suarez lifted his average to .304 by going 3-for-4 with a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth inning off Jose Quintana (6-6) and Joey Votto had two hits and an RBI. Quintana gave up four runs and nine hits in five innings.
“We’re playing really good baseball,” Suarez said. “We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing — and keep winning. If we play like this, something good is going to happen.”
The Cubs scored three times against Reds starter Luis Castillo (5-8) in 5 2/3 innings — Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer in the fourth — but former Cleveland Indians pitcher Kyle Crockett pitched out of a two-on jam in the sixth in his Reds debut.
The Cubs managed only four hits in the game, David Hernandez pitched two scoreless innings and Raisel Iglesias finished in the ninth for his 12th save.
The Cincinnati bullpen has pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the series so far.
“That was one of the cleaner games we’re played — offensively, defensively, we ran the bases well … and got timely hits,” Riggleman said. “When you do that http://www.arizonacardinalsteamonline.com/zach-allen-jersey , you’re probably going to win.”
Now, the Reds have the improving Anthony DeSclafani (2-1) pitching Saturday. The right-hander missed the first two months of the season with an oblique injury after sitting out all of last season with an elbow injury, but he has won his last two starts while lowering his ERA from 7.60 to 4.20.
He’s 2-2 in seven career starts against the Cubs, and he handles Chicago cleanup hitter Anthony Rizzo (2-for-20, .100) especially well.
It’s expected to be a bullpen game for the Cubs, with former Reds pitcher Luke Farrell (2-2) making his first start of the season and only the second of his major league career. The longest he has pitched this season was five shutout relief innings during the Cubs’ 7-1, 14-inning victory over the New York Mets on June 2.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon stayed with his recent experiment of using slugger Kris Bryant as a leadoff hitter — he was 9-for-24 (.375) with three RBIs in that spot going into the game — but he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
“He gets on base a lot, he’s possibly one of the best baserunners on the team,” Maddon told reporters. “It’s one of those things — preconceived notions — that you get hung up on. But I like what he’s doing. When the bottom of the order has been productive, there’s a potential for a lot of baserunners in the one-hole.”
Only there wasn’t any such potential Friday as the Cubs’ No. 7-8-9 batters were a combined 0-for-9. It also didn’t help that Rizzo went 0-for-4 and stranded three runners.
And, now, suddenly the Cubs-Reds rivalry isn’t what it used to be.