Former USC Football Player Says School Coaches Caused Him To Have Heart Attack

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) ? A former USC football player is suing the university claiming that his professional football career was cut short by a heart attack that was brought on by painkillers given to him by school coaches.

Armond Armstead, now 22, filed his suit Thursday. He seeks tens of millions of dollars in damages.

Suraya Fadel, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, examines the case further.

The once 6?5? 295-pound claims his budding career as a potential NFL player was derailed after he suffered a heart attack while he was at USC.

The Elk Grove resident blames the University, says Fadel, because Armstead says the school?s team doctors and health center administered mandatory painkillers to treat various injuries he endured in 2009 and 2010.

Armstead says coaches and doctors routinely shot him up with Toradol. His suit maintains he didn?t know of the drug?s potential side effects.

He claims he was given ten injections over the course of a few weeks and that led to his heart attack.

Fadel spoke to Dr. Shephal Doshi, director of Cardiac Electrophysiology? at St. John?s Health Center in Santa Monica. ?One can get that number of injections if? the dose is low. That number of doses wouldn?t be uncommon. It matters what the total dose was.?

He says Toradol is a ?stronger version of Ibuprofen, something given over the counter.?

Dr. Doshi did not treat Armstead but believes it is unlikely Toradol was the source of the player?s heart attack. ?When a young football player, assume an active player, when someone of that age develops a heart attack, we have to wonder what are the causes??

Dr. Doshi tells Fadel that heart attacks in people who take Toradol are uncommon. ?It is rare that someone gets a few doses at a young age and develops a heart attack. But you can never exclude that as a possibility?

Fadel says Armstead is currently playing football in Canada.

Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/08/30/former-usc-football-player-says-school-coaches-caused-him-to-have-heart-attack/

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