March 26, 2014 | Posted in Uncategorized | By

Comments Off on Law and Ethics in Sports and Healthcare

The following scenario relates to our standard on Injury assessment of the knee and also our standard relating to understanding and practicing legal and ethical standards in healthcare.

Read the following passage and respond to the essay questions:

The law suit was unusual, but the story wasn’t. It involved high stakes sports and negligence.

Mike O’Malley had excelled in high school academically as well as athletically. He was varsity quarterback for all four years, and everyone expected him to be drafted by a professional team. After graduating from high school, he received a full scholarship to a very well known university and immediately became the starting quarterback on the football team.

The high school coach, Frank Inset, felt very close to Mike and was watching his career with interest and concern. He went to many games to see Mike play. One day, at an important game, Frank was watching a play through his binoculars. He noticed Mike was limping slightly. During another play, Mike was tackled and did not get up immediately. Frank was concerned. He continued to watch even during the time-outs to see how the coach would handle the situation. Frank thought that Mike should be taken out of the game.

That didn’t happen. Mike played the rest of the game. By the end of the day, he was in severe pain. He went to the emergency room that night and was admitted into the hospital immediately. He was found to have serious damage to his knee, and was told he needed surgery. Doctors felt that he would need months of physical therapy following the surgery and might have permanent damage. His college football career was probably over, and he would almost certainly never play professional football.

Frank told Mike’s parents of his concerns about the college coach’s decision during the game. He felt the damage would have been much less if Mike had been taken out of the game as soon as he was injured. Mike’s parents saw an attorney who said they might have a case against the university and the coach.

Essay Questions:

  1. What is negligence, from a legal point of view?  Use the following link to assist you in answering: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/negligence
  2. If you were Mike’s attorney, how would you argue the case? Give three arguments.
  3. If you were the attorney for the university or the coach, how would you argue the case? Give three arguments.
  4. Should the university have rules that control a coach’s behavior in such situations? Why or why not?
  5. Describe how you think this situation may have been handled if there was an athletic trainer present?
  6. Do you think that universities should be required to have an athletic trainer, or a medical person available at games?  Explain why.
  7. In pro football, an athlete often has a contract that requires him to be paid even if he is injured. Is this right? Why or why not?