Saints diagnosed problem with medical staff, and now they get a chance to fix it
Feel free to get a second opinion on this, but here's mine.
First, the bad news.
The Saints' decision to fire two team doctors because of a misdiagnosis of cornerback Delvin Breaux's leg injury should be a bit concerning for sports fans in New Orleans.
The good news is the Saints saw a problem and decided to do something about it.
This could be good news for Saints fans as well as Pelicans fans.
Deryk Jones and Misty Suri were the doctors dismissed by the Saints. Suri, also the head physician for the Pelicans, will keep his role with that team.
If you have kept up with either team in recent years, you know the medical history. There have been health issues that you wish had been caught sooner. And there have been injuries that have lingered longer than you'd expect. (To be fair, doctors can't prevent injuries, but a bad diagnosis can cause them to be prolonged or recur.)
The latest, of course, is Breaux's injury. Breaux has missed most of training camp with what was diagnosed as a leg contusion. Turns out it was a broken fibula, which he is scheduled to have surgery for Thursday.
The misdiagnosis almost cost Breaux his job. The Advocate reported Monday that Breaux could be traded because of what seemed at the time like nagging health issues that had kept him out of practice. Turns out, Breaux got a second opinion, and the injury was more serious than first believed.
"It's definitely a little bit concerning," Saints defensive lineman Tyeler Davison said. "But l feel like it would be like that if it was anybody's doctor and they had misdiagnosed somebody. We trust Sean (Payton) to put somebody who's good at their job in that position to help us."
There have been other incidents involving key players in recent years.
In June, fans couldn't help but wonder why Nick Fairley's heart condition wasn't caught sooner. Fairley, whose enlarged heart was originally discovered before he was drafted, had played five years in the NFL with the Lions and Rams before joining the Saints last season. A doctor in Boston recommended the veteran defensive tackle retire. But unfortunately for the Saints, that decision came after the team signed him to a four-year, $28 million deal.
Should it have been discovered sooner? Who knows?
And going back further, there was Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade in 2013. Holiday is healthy now, but the Pelicans got him without knowing he had stress fractures in his right leg. The 76ers ended up having to compensate the Pelicans for not disclosing that information, but you'd think the Pelicans medical staff would have checked for that at some point.
Former Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis thinks it's a problem the team has dealt with for years.
"If this was the first incident, they wouldn't have fired him," Lewis said Wednesday. "This has been going on. I was one of the guys it happened to. It bothers me that I'm still dealing with health problems and busting my butt to get back and play."
Lewis was released by the Saints last season. According to Lewis, team doctors told him he was dealing with issues from scar tissue stemming from hip surgery. It was an injury that would require about two weeks of rest, but he was unable to return and eventually was let go.
He visited the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team he played with before the Saints, and was told by the Steelers that the surgery he had almost six months earlier was a "failed surgery," and more than just an issue with scar tissue.
Former Saints linebacker Chris Chamberlain responded to news of the firings on Twitter.
"Not the first time this has happened," he tweeted. "Shocked they actually admitted the mistake and (Saints general manager Mickey) Loomis isn't blaming the player like he did me."
But here's the good news.
Payton and/or Loomis diagnosed the problem and are trying to fix it. And Payton said Breaux's misdiagnosis was an isolated incident.
"For years, those guys have done a great job," Payton said. "But there was a point we felt as an organization that change was going to be necessary for us."
Fittingly, Payton was standing in front of a banner with the Saints and Ochsner logos on it. The team and Ochsner are partners, and the Saints/Pelicans practice facility now bears the group's name.
"Our tie to Ochsner is fantastic," Payton emphasized.
But the next team doctors may not be from Ochsner. He said the team will go through as many qualified candidates as it can to fill the positions.
"When this happens with a player, the decision is made, and the club moves on," Payton said. "When it happens with the head coach, the same thing applies. Certainly that umbrella of confidence level in other areas applies as well. It's a competitive business and part of the NFL."
Payton addressed the change in medical staff with his team Tuesday night.
"He did a great job of basically promising the team that they are going to have people here in every area of the building, including the medical staff, that players feel like have their best interest at heart," punter Thomas Morstead said. "It's always a concern with players. A good organization is going to make sure the players trust every part of the organization as best as possible. That's important, whether it's trusting you have the best coaches, the best scouting departments, the best trainers or the best doctors."
The bad news is the Saints had a problem.
The good news is they diagnosed it, and now they can try to fix it.
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NFL news and notes, Oct. 15
T' NFL has sent a newslett'r outlinyun' t'basic facks about t'Ebola virus ta all team docters an' truners fer distribushun ta players an' staff. T' leegue sed Winsdee t'newslett'r wuz writte by t'Duke Infecshun Kuntrol Outreech Netwerk, t'leegue’s infectiyus diseese consultunts, an' sent ta t...
I'm not sure the NFL could exist without painkillers. The medical issue here is informed consent, not painkillers. If athletes weren't told, weren't part of the decision, then the doctors are way out over their skis. ... The other issue I have is the conflict between doctor-patient and team. The team interferes with the normal relationship with an inherent conflict. The team pays the doctors to make players perform, not to heal them. Who is their ultimate alliance with, especially for the doctors who pay for the privilege and make so much money off touting they're the team doc?
Will Carroll, sports medicine expert for Bleacher Report ("With Latest NFL Lawsuit, Football's Ugly Past Comes Calling Again")
When you're 22 years old, and you present yourself to the doctor after the game and tell him your shoulder hurts, and he gets on his Dictaphone and says, ‘No. 50 has a shoulder injury. We're going to load him up with a Special K,' ... And you go, ‘What's that?' And he says, ‘Don't worry about it, son.' And then you think, ‘Well, this guy's a doctor. I'm at the best of the best. He has my best interest at heart…' This is what's happening. This is the NFL. It's the NFL's culture. They created it. So, no, there's no culpability for the players.
Mel Owens, an attorney and former linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, arguing that the culture of the NFL, not the players themselves, is to blame for any abuse of painkillers (source: L.A. Times)
