The United States federal government has focused its attention on the NFL this time. The federal agency has been determined to investigate the use of illegal drugs by some of the league's football players.
The fed's drug enforcement department has started an investigation campaign on how NFL players get a hold of prescription drugs, which include narcotics in the like of Vicodin, Percodan, and Percocet. Inflammatory drugs such as Toradol are also under scrutiny within several teams in the NFL, as reported by the New York Daily News.
A 1995-released book called, "You're Ok, It's Just A Bruise", revealed the Oakland Raiders' ugly behind the scenes medical phenomenon that occurred twenty years ago. However, the ex-players of the Raiders admitted that the rampant distribution of drugs has always been a problem the league has dealt with.
J.D. Hill, a wide receiver for the Detroit Lion, in 1971-1977, had this to say about the controversial issue,
""It was pretty free and loose,"
Hill was one of the plaintiffs involved in the case against the NFL, filed by the fed agency. Hill recalled that he and the rest of the players accused were never informed of the side effects of the medications.
No further warnings about such medication were released, according to Hill.
Hill further reported the players' innocence from the accusations, stating that:
"I didn't have a prescription,"
"It was just, I was in pain, and so therefore I was given pills to kill the pain."
"With hips and with knees, with ankles, with necks, you name it, whatever injury you could possibly think of, guys were put back on the field to play because that was what we were told to do," Hill said. "Some players didn't know their options, and so taking the pain killers and taking advice of the trainers and doctors is what players did ... Most of us were in that boat, that we had no idea the side effects... the addiction that could occur, some of the medications, the pain killers that were being given to us, the addiction problems or the long-term effects that these pills could cause.
