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NCAA settlement with student-athletes with concussions gets preliminary OK

Posted On: Jan. 28, 2016 12:00 AM CST

NCAA settlement with student-athletes with concussions gets preliminary OK

A federal judge in Chicago on Tuesday granted preliminary approval of a settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and a group of former student-athletes who suffered concussions playing college sports.

Like the original settlement proposed in July 2014, Tuesday's agreement would require the NCAA to establish a $70 million fund to test and diagnose current and former athletes for injuries from concussions, and provide an additional $5 million for concussion research. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2011 in the U.S. District Court in Chicago.

One change to the original settlement requested by U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee was that the Indianapolis-based NCAA would not be protected against class action concussion litigation brought by athletes.

“While we are pleased the court has provided a preliminary pathway to provide significant resources for the medical monitoring of student-athletes who may suffer concussion, we are still examining the conditions placed on preliminary approval,” Donald Remy, NCAA chief legal officer, said in a statement on Tuesday.