BATON ROUGE — Former LSU safety Greg Brooks Jr. is suing the school and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center alleging negligence following an operation for a brain tumor that ultimately ended his football career.According to court records, Brooks said he suffers from “catastrophic neurological injuries” and is “permanently disabled” from the surgery conducted at Our Lady of the Lake by a surgeon chosen by LSU. Brooks added that he suffered “multiple strokes” after the surgery; Brooks says the strokes are signs of medical malpractice.Brooks alleges that LSU’s coaching staff — including current head coach Brian Kelly — did not take the proper precautions to diagnose his tumor when he began displaying symptoms as early as August 2023, including an incident where he passed out and vomited in front of coaches and athletic trainers.The lawsuit was initially reported by Yahoo! Sports on Thursday. WBRZ obtained the lawsuit on Friday.In response to the lawsuit, the university said “Brooks remains in our thoughts and prayers as he continues to work through the rehabilitation process.””Since the beginning of our agreement with our Championship Health Partner, Our Lady of the Lake, they have provided exceptional medical care for our student-athletes in all of our sports,” LSU said in a statement, adding that they could not comment on ongoing litigation.The hospital, which announced a sports medicine partnership in 2022, did not comment to WBRZ but gave a statement to Yahoo! expressing support for Brooks through his recovery and saying they could not comment on pending litigation.The lawsuit, filed Aug. 2, says Brooks was not given tests for neurological conditions — including brain tumors — after displaying symptoms like dizziness, nausea and headaches. Instead, Brooks alleges, he was only given Zofran for the nausea and cleared to return to practice and played the first two games of the season.Brooks says his symptoms continued and that he repeatedly reported them to the LSU coaching and athletic training staff, the lawsuit says. He was eventually re-evaluated two days after he passed out. A concussion was ruled out during this re-evaluation, he said.”Rather than refer Greg Brooks Jr. to a competent neurologist to evaluate him, (an athletic trainer) instead evaluated Greg himself with an app on his iPad and again cleared him to practice despite clearly lacking the appropriate medical training and education to make such a decision,” the lawsuit says.The lawsuit alleges that Brooks’ condition worsened and trainers continued to misdiagnose him, including a diagnosis of vertigo. The lawsuit adds that these diagnoses were made without consultation of the team physician.”Had Greg been referred to a neurologist in early August, Greg’s brain tumor would have been discovered weeks earlier, and Greg would have been spared the pain and suffering that he endured in the weeks leading up to his ultimate brain tumor diagnosis,” Brooks’ lawsuit says.Brooks’ suit also says the early identification of the tumor would have given him opportunities to research and explore treatment options “rather than get rushed to an emergent brain surgery.”As a result of the tumor and surgery, Brooks will “likely need care for the rest of his life” due to paralysis, his lawsuit alleges. According to Yahoo’s reporting, he was since diagnosed with posterior fossa syndrome, which is a condition that impacts speech, motor skills and behavior. Brooks blames this diagnosis on the malpractice of Our Lady of the Lake’s surgeon.The lawsuit also alleges that Brooks’ situation is a direct result of the university “creating a culture…that puts winning games over the health and safety of student-athletes by making student-athletes feel that they will lose their starting position…on the team if they miss a practice or game because of injury or illness.”Brooks’ career ended after he played in 50 games with Arkansas and LSU. He had 93 total tackles and six interceptions. A year after Brooks’ diagnosis, linebacker Greg Penn wore Brooks’ No. 3 in honor of his teammate.The lawsuit notes that the university paid for Brooks’ medical care.Permalink| Comments
BATON ROUGE — Former LSU safety Greg Brooks Jr. is suing the school and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center alleging negligence following an operation for a brain tumor that ultimately ended his football career.
According to court records, Brooks said he suffers from “catastrophic neurological injuries” and is “permanently disabled” from the surgery conducted at Our Lady of the Lake by a surgeon chosen by LSU. Brooks added that he suffered “multiple strokes” after the surgery; Brooks says the strokes are signs of medical malpractice.
Brooks alleges that LSU’s coaching staff — including current head coach Brian Kelly — did not take the proper precautions to diagnose his tumor when he began displaying symptoms as early as August 2023, including an incident where he passed out and vomited in front of coaches and athletic trainers.
The lawsuit was initially reported by Yahoo! Sports on Thursday. WBRZ obtained the lawsuit on Friday.
In response to the lawsuit, the university said “Brooks remains in our thoughts and prayers as he continues to work through the rehabilitation process.”
“Since the beginning of our agreement with our Championship Health Partner, Our Lady of the Lake, they have provided exceptional medical care for our student-athletes in all of our sports,” LSU said in a statement, adding that they could not comment on ongoing litigation.
The hospital, which announced a sports medicine partnership in 2022, did not comment to WBRZ but gave a statement to Yahoo! expressing support for Brooks through his recovery and saying they could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 2, says Brooks was not given tests for neurological conditions — including brain tumors — after displaying symptoms like dizziness, nausea and headaches. Instead, Brooks alleges, he was only given Zofran for the nausea and cleared to return to practice and played the first two games of the season.
Brooks says his symptoms continued and that he repeatedly reported them to the LSU coaching and athletic training staff, the lawsuit says. He was eventually re-evaluated two days after he passed out. A concussion was ruled out during this re-evaluation, he said.
“Rather than refer Greg Brooks Jr. to a competent neurologist to evaluate him, (an athletic trainer) instead evaluated Greg himself with an app on his iPad and again cleared him to practice despite clearly lacking the appropriate medical training and education to make such a decision,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges that Brooks’ condition worsened and trainers continued to misdiagnose him, including a diagnosis of vertigo. The lawsuit adds that these diagnoses were made without consultation of the team physician.
“Had Greg been referred to a neurologist in early August, Greg’s brain tumor would have been discovered weeks earlier, and Greg would have been spared the pain and suffering that he endured in the weeks leading up to his ultimate brain tumor diagnosis,” Brooks’ lawsuit says.
Brooks’ suit also says the early identification of the tumor would have given him opportunities to research and explore treatment options “rather than get rushed to an emergent brain surgery.”
As a result of the tumor and surgery, Brooks will “likely need care for the rest of his life” due to paralysis, his lawsuit alleges. According to Yahoo’s reporting, he was since diagnosed with posterior fossa syndrome, which is a condition that impacts speech, motor skills and behavior. Brooks blames this diagnosis on the malpractice of Our Lady of the Lake’s surgeon.
The lawsuit also alleges that Brooks’ situation is a direct result of the university “creating a culture…that puts winning games over the health and safety of student-athletes by making student-athletes feel that they will lose their starting position…on the team if they miss a practice or game because of injury or illness.”
Brooks’ career ended after he played in 50 games with Arkansas and LSU. He had 93 total tackles and six interceptions. A year after Brooks’ diagnosis, linebacker Greg Penn wore Brooks’ No. 3 in honor of his teammate.
The lawsuit notes that the university paid for Brooks’ medical care.