Former Western Bulldogs Premier League player Liam Picken is suing the AFL, his former club and club doctors over the concussions he suffered throughout his career.
Picken played 198 games for the club but ultimately retired in 2019 due to continued concussion symptoms.
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Now only 36 years old, Picken has suffered multiple concussions throughout his career and has claimed to have returned to the field despite concussions throughout his career.
Picken’s lawyers claimed that he gave several incorrect results on cognitive tests during his career, but were not warned of this fact.
Picken also reportedly suffers from photophobia, or an aversion to bright lights.
In documents filed with the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday and released daily mailPicken claims that the club and the doctors violated their duty to help him.
This was announced by the chief lawyer of National Compensation Lawyers Michael Tanner. Age Picken was unaware of the extent of the head injuries.
“From Liam’s point of view, he was never aware of his shortcomings in any cognitive assessment he had ever taken. Also, he didn’t necessarily understand the full extent of his injuries or his symptoms,” Tanner said.
“What he did was express his concern about his symptoms. The medical advice given to him at the time was (he) still able to play.”
The AFL doubled its concussion protection policy from six days in 2020 to 12 in 2021, but it has long been under scrutiny.
Picken also cited two concussions as particularly egregious, pointing to a 2017 third-round clash against Fremantle and a pre-season game against Hawthorne at Ballarat in March 2018.
In a 2017 incident, Picken suffered a concussion when Tommy Sheridan landed on the ex-Bulldog’s head, which he claims gave him a “clear diagnosis: head injury or concussion”.
However, he claimed that he was not tested for concussion with the SCAT 3 test and returned to full training five days after the incident after taking a digital cognitive test. He said the recommendation of the test was to wait for the symptoms to subside, but claimed he was not provided with the results.
The 2018 incident was a nasty clash of heads, but the results were similar.
In 2018, Picken’s wife Annie Nolan also stated that Herald of the Sun Consequences of concussion of the brain of the husband.
“The worst thing for me is that when he actually got hit, I wasn’t there, but all three of our kids were in the support group, so I heard this story from the support group,” she said.
“Mally understood immediately and obviously he was saying, ‘Get up daddy, get up daddy,’ but all the cheerleaders surrounded the girls so they wouldn’t see it.”
“The girls didn’t see that it was Liam, but then, when Liam was taken away, Delphi asked: “Where are they taking this dead man?
“It sounds so dramatic, but I burst into tears when I heard it because she didn’t realize it was her father.”
Picken is reported to be claiming loss of earnings and ongoing medical tests until retirement age.
He’s not the first player to sue, as former Collingwood AFLW vice-captain Emma Grant filed a civil lawsuit after a concussion in the 2020 preseason led to her early retirement.
The class-action lawsuit was uncovered last month when Margalit Injury Lawyers managing director Michel Margalit said the firm had been “inundated” with allegations of life-changing head injuries from former players.
“Action should have been taken many, many years ago, not only to change protocols, improve education, but also financially support people who are injured, and also to contain them so that they do not return to the game too early,” said Margalit. . SEN Whateley.
Margalit cited class action lawsuits by former NFL players who were paid more than $1 billion in compensation.
“We are considering the types of compensation that have been received at the international level. The initial settlement of the US NFL class action was about $1 billion,” added Ms. Margalit.
“That’s a very realistic figure in terms of this class action.”
Similar Danny Frawley, Shane Tuck And Polly Farmer all were diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after death.
Originally published as Former bulldog Liam Picken launches landmark case that could change the AFL forever