both TonyRo76 and LasVegasDave.
Posted on 06/26/2009 1:17:14 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Former Browns receiver Joe Jurevicius has filed a civil suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court against the Browns, the Cleveland Clinic, former team physician Dr. Anthony Miniaci and current team physician Dr. Richard Figler, for negligence and fraud that he alleges led to a staph infection that might have ended his NFL career.
The suit claims that the Browns and their team physicians failed to warn Jurevicius that sterile techniques were not at all times used at the Browns training facility in Berea; that therapy devices passed among multiple individuals, including Browns players, were not properly maintained and/or cleaned, if at all; and that community equipment and frequently used surfaces were not properly cleaned, if at all.
Jurevicius, a former star at Lake Catholic High School, maintains that he contracted staph in his knee because he was not warned and because Browns staff members did not tell the truth about maintenance and cleaning of the Browns facility.
Browns director of public relations Neal Gulkis said in a voicemail message that the Browns have no comment yet, but might provide a statement later. A spokesperson for Cleveland Clinic said the hospital had no comment at this time.
Jurevicius issued the following statement through his attorney, Shannon Polk:
"I wanted to play out my career for my hometown team. I hate that it all came down to this, especially over something preventable. But this problem goes beyond me -- it touches every player who trusts what they are told about the care they are being offered. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the support I've received from the fans over the past few years. It's really helped me through a difficult time in my life.''
Jurevicius underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Jan. 7, 2008 and began his post-operative rehab at the Browns facility. On Jan. 21, 2008, his right knee became swollen, he was unable to walk, and he experienced severe shaking and chills. The next day he was diagnosed with a staph infection. Since that time he has undergone seven medical procedures designed to eradicate the staph.
The Browns released Jurevicius on March 12, rather than pay him a roster bonus. He was due to make $2.4 million in the final season of a four-year contract he signed in 2006.
"The Browns held their training facility out as a world-class place for care and treatment and extended it to their players and others like a hospital," Polk said. "Joe could've gone anywhere to rehab after his offseason surgery. He chose to accept care and treatment from the Browns staff and the Cleveland Clinic physicians because he trusted and believed what he was told about the staph problem. It turns out he shouldn't have.''
Click to read an October 2008 story on staph infections' impact on the Browns.
Jurevicius' staph infection was one of seven publicized incidents of staph infection the Browns have had since 2003.
• Tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., traded to Tampa Bay this offseason, suffered two. His first case came in 2005 after surgery to repair a torn knee ligament in which he was hospitalized and lost almost 30 pounds. The second was last season.
• Former Browns center LeCharles Bentley remains out of football after suffering a staph infection that he said was life-threatening. The infection was diagnosed shortly after surgery to repair a torn tendon in his left knee in 2006.
• Jurevicius' infection surfaced two weeks after his arthroscopic knee surgery in January of 2008.
• Receiver Braylon Edwards missed two games during his rookie year in 2005 with a staph infection that had to be surgically removed from his right arm.
• A recurring staph infection in an elbow all but wiped out former safety Brian Russell's 2006 season.
• In late 2003, former linebacker Ben Taylor wound up in the Cleveland Clinic for five days with a staph infection after reporting to practice with a scratch near his elbow and flulike symptoms that worsened during the day.
John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer Joe Jurevicius points to the dog pound end of Cleveland Browns Stadium as he signals a first down during the Dec. 16, 2007 game against Buffalo that was played in a snowstorm. The Browns won, 8-0.The Browns may have tried to bring Jurevicius back for this season at the NFL minimum salary of $845,000 for veterans of 10 or more years -- the same concession made by offensive lineman Ryan Tucker. General manager George Kokinis talked with Jurevicius' agents about a deal at the NFL Combine. "We tried to work something out and it just ended up not coming to a conclusion," Kokinis said then. ". . . Joe's done a lot. I know what he means to this team." In a statement issued at that time by agent Mark Humenik, Jurevicius indicated there was more than money involved in the Browns' decision.
The statement said: "As a Cleveland native and lifelong Browns fan, I always hoped to finish my career in brown and orange with my family and friends in the stands, and was even willing to take a steep pay cut to keep that dream alive, which is why I have such a heavy heart today."
Jurevicius, a native of Timberlake, Ohio, said at that time he will "forever cherish the three seasons that I spent here and will never forget the chills that I got whenever I stepped foot on the field on the shores of Lake Erie."
A marriage of Jurevicius and new coach Eric Mangini seemed doomed from the start. In December, Jurevicius was one of the few players to speak out publicly and endorse the Phil Savage-Romeo Crennel management team. He felt the 4-12 season in 2008 was an aberration caused by injuries and roster immaturity. He appealed to Lerner to stay the course.
Jurevicius played in three Super Bowls with three different teams in his career before signing with the Browns in 2006. In that off-season, he joined local products LeCharles Bentley and Bob Hallen, both centers, and punter Dave Zastudil in using free agency to return home to play. Only Zastudil remains.
Click the below link for the .pdf file of the complaint.
http://blog.cleveland.com/browns_impact/2009/06/joe-jurevicius.pdf
PSU ping
Well I guess he does have a point..
He lost his young son at an early age-heart breaking. tough kid-I'm not sure I would have recovered from that loss. Probably would have crawled into a bottle.
This is not funny. This can be a killer.
C’mon Joe...a Cleveland fan and lifelong blah, blah,blah. So that’s why you went to PENN STATE rather than becoming a Buckeye? Leave the crap out of the lawsuit, huh?
Jurevicius and Winslow both gone. Who’s Brady Quinn going to throw to besides Braylon Edwards? Maybe it won’t matter once Man-genius gets done with them...
hh
He was a much better fit for my fave team, Seattle, than with the Gmen (my second fave team)...JFK
I will always have the deepest respect for Jurevicius.
He lost his son while playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs (My Home team) and he played a great game in defeating the vile, putrid, classless, Eagles in Veterans stadium the year Tampa won the SB.
The main reason I hope every week during the season whoever plays the Eagles kicks the ever loving crap out of them is because the Eagle fans were heartless and cruel enough to mock his dead son during the game to throw him off.
Can you get ANY lower?
I hope he gets what he deserves.
I had a staph inflection in my elbow from playing football and they are a bitch to get rid of
My SiL underwent almost the exact problem.
It took over a year for Dr.s to close up a hole in his knee.
Did the picc line, vacuum treatment, everything in the arsenal.
Finally hyperbaric chamber treatments ‘cured’ his knee.
He really isn’t ‘cured’ as the infection is dormant in the
surrounding bones and can reoccur .
Hope this guy gets ‘um.
As an aside, my wife had several vertebrae fused Monday.
I questioned her coming home the next day or day after.
The Dr. told me that with all the ‘bugs’ floating around in
the hospital she was much safer at home.
The real story btw is that Jurevicius is highly pissed because he was essentially cut by the Browns in the off-season.
No, the real story is through their malfeasance and lackadaisical attitude toward hygiene, sterile conditions and sanitation he no longer has a career.
And they cut him.
My humble opinion is the Browns did Joe wrong. He was a fan/hometown favorite. I have a alot of respect for his conduct and the way he played the game. I for one was very disappointed in how he was treated and let go by the Browns.
I would have to guess that in addition to pro facilities not being the cleanest, college and high school training rooms are really bad as well...
3 or 4 guys sharing the whirlpool (not full immersion, we’d sit on the edge, and have legs or arms in the water - and it was an ice water whirlpool, so my guess is that it wasn’t very friendly to bacteria... But we never did anything other than wipe down where we were sitting or the rehab equipment with a towel
Mark
I never heard that. Wow. Philly is a *&^%hole.
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