Greg Brooks Jr., the previous LSU soccer participant and crew captain whose profession ended after the invention of a brain tumor final fall, is suing the college and its affiliated medical center for negligence. Brooks is accusing coaches of inaction and trainers of misdiagnosis in addition to levying claims towards the surgeon who operated on him.
The 13-page lawsuit, filed in August in East Baton Rouge Parish and obtained on Thursday by Yahoo Sports, reveals unreported particulars of the timeline of occasions final 12 months associated to Brooks’ surprising flip of occasions — from a star security in the SEC with NFL aspirations to a now “permanently disabled” man who nonetheless, a 12 months after surgery, can not stroll.
The swimsuit particulars the beginning of Brooks’ signs whereas at soccer apply final August to his emergency brain surgery in September — a narrative that gripped the nation final 12 months. He participated in two soccer video games earlier than an MRI scan found the brain tumor.
In the authorized submitting, Brooks accuses the teaching workers of encouraging him to apply and play whereas in poor health by threatening his beginning place, and he levies claims towards crew trainers for not appropriately diagnosing his situation and refusing, for weeks, to suggest him to a neurological specialist.
In essentially the most critical accusations, Brooks alleges that he was left with “catastrophic neurological injuries” and is “permanently disabled” from the brain surgery carried out by Brandon Gaynor, a surgeon at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge. During the surgery, Brooks says he suffered “multiple strokes” from “acts of malpractice.” Those alleged acts are being addressed in a medical overview of malpractice claims the household has filed.
Along with Gaynor, the lawsuit names and holds partially accountable a number of LSU teaching and coaching workers members in addition to medical center docs. The listing contains head coach Brian Kelly, then-defensive coordinator Matt House, then-safeties coach Kerry Cooks, head athletic coach Owen Stanley and crew docs Stephen Etheredge and Vincent Shaw.
Both LSU and Our Lady of the Lake launched statements to Yahoo Sports when reached this week.
“First, and foremost, our prayers remain with Greg for his continued healing and recovery. Due to patient privacy laws and pending litigation, we can’t comment on specific individuals or situations,” a press release from the hospital mentioned. “The neurosurgical team at Our Lady of the Lake is among the most experienced in Louisiana and they give our patients the best opportunity for a positive outcome in any circumstance. Providing excellent healthcare to those we serve is our top priority.”
The college wrote, “While LSU can not touch upon ongoing litigation, Greg Brooks stays in our ideas and prayers as he continues to work by means of the rehabilitation course of. Since the start of our settlement with our Championship Health Partner, Our Lady of the Lake, they've offered distinctive medical care for our student-athletes in all of our sports activities.”
Brooks and his household didn't reply to a request for remark.
A 12 months after surgery, Brooks can not stroll, can not use his proper hand and has appreciable issue talking, in keeping with a request that his attorneys despatched to the Division of Administration’s Medical Review Panel.
“Greg will likely need care for the rest of his life for the injuries he sustained as a result of his providers’ malpractice,” the doc says. “Obviously, Greg will also never be able to play football again and he will likely never be able to work and/or care for himself without the assistance of others.”
Brooks developed from the surgery a situation often known as “posterior fossa syndrome,” a post-operative difficulty occurring in some sufferers with a variety of signs that embody impacts on speech, motor abilities and habits. His neurological accidents are a “direct result of these neurosurgeons’ malpractice,” the grievance says.
Brooks was finally transferred to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis final October and suffered by means of “protracted hospitalization, rehabilitation and recovery” that lasted 9 months. He lately spent a number of extra days on the Memphis hospital for a process.
In the lawsuit, Brooks additionally accuses LSU of exposing confidential medical data that was “false and misleading;” utilizing his identify, picture and likeness with out his consent; and refusing to switch possession to him of a donation fund in his identify by means of the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation. An NCAA coverage does exist requiring documentation of qualifying medical bills for distribution functions of such funds. LSU didn't tackle the fund in its assertion.
Brooks, a local of Harvey, Louisiana, simply outdoors of New Orleans, was a three-year starter at security for Arkansas earlier than transferring to LSU in 2022. In his first season with the Tigers, he ranked fifth on the crew in tackles, began 13 video games and recorded a game-securing interception in a win towards Auburn.
Last August, earlier than the beginning of his fifth-year senior season, he was voted a everlasting crew captain and entered the season as an NFL Draft prospect.
However, on Aug. 5, through the first week of LSU’s preseason camp, Brooks skilled signs of nausea and dizziness and vomited at apply. He was handled with Zofran for the nausea and was cleared to return to apply. Two days later, on Aug. 7, Brooks’ signs elevated. LSU trainers cleared Brooks of a concussion after utilizing an digital app on an iPad referred to as “C3 Logix,” the grievance says. On Aug. 11, Brooks skilled extra signs throughout a “rolling drill” whereas at apply. He was handled for “vertigo.”
Symptoms continued over the following a number of weeks because the Tigers ready for the season opener towards Florida State in Orlando. Brooks was given the choice to not take part in apply however was “simultaneously told by the coaching staff that if he chose to sit out, someone else would take his place, such that he may lose his starting position,” the lawsuit says.
He performed the vast majority of LSU’s first two video games towards Florida State and Grambling. On Sept. 13, 39 days after Brooks skilled his first signs, trainers scheduled for him to be examined by a neurologist, when the MRI was carried out.
Trainers then communicated the outcomes to Brooks and made preparations that very same day for emergency surgery on the LSU-affiliated Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center. The medical center “hand-picked” Gaynor as his surgeon and “never explained” to Brooks or his dad and mom that they may discover different therapy choices, the grievance notes.
The lawsuit alleges that Gaynor “lacked the appropriate training, education, and/or experience to perform the procedure.” To take away any such brain tumor requires craniotomy and excision and is routinely carried out by “fellowship-trained pediatric neurosurgeons,” the grievance says.
Entering surgery, Gaynor informed Brooks that he seemingly would be capable of eat dinner that very night time and that the “worst-case scenario” could be that he would have issue swallowing and speaking for a number of months, a letter to the medical overview panel says.
Brooks’ tumor was decided after surgery to be a “pediatric tumor,” usually a cancerous progress that happens in youngsters. Pediatric tumors, nonetheless, can seem in adults. In normal, cancerous brain tumors will be tough to detect as they're sluggish rising and will be “asymptomatic” — producing no signs — till the superior stage, in keeping with medical journals.
The Commission on Cancer Accreditation has for years accredited Our Lady of the Lake for most cancers elimination procedures. The accreditation is often decided by means of a hospital’s price of profitable surgical procedures. The surgeon in the crosshairs of the lawsuit, Gaynor, was licensed for neurological surgery by the American Board of Neurological Surgery in 2018, in keeping with his biography on the Our Lady of the Lake web site.
In a continuation of its assertion, the hospital wrote, “as LSU’s Championship Health Partner, Our Lady of the Lake is leading the team of healthcare professionals who care for LSU athletes. The team of sports medicine physicians, cardiologists, neurologists, and other specialists work together with the LSU athletic department to ensure student athletes receive comprehensive care of the highest standard.”
In the aftermath of Brooks’ surgery, LSU honored him by enjoying a sport towards Arkansas final 12 months carrying helmet decals with the No. 3, his jersey quantity. Just a few weeks later, the college honored Gaynor throughout halftime of the LSU-Florida sport for his “heroic” efforts treating Brooks — one thing the lawsuit condemns. The actions “further exacerbated Greg’s considerable emotional distress,” the lawsuit says.
A listening to has been scheduled earlier than Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts on Feb. 10. In the newest submitting on Oct. 7, Brooks’ attorneys requested a subpoena for LSU, its board of supervisors and the Louisiana workplace of the commissioner of the administration.
