Krueger v. San Francisco Forty Niners

Charlie Krueger (plaintiff), a 49ers (defendant) defensive lineman, was never informed by team doctors that he was missing his anterior cruciate ligament, discovered during a knee surgery, even though this condition could produce dangerous knee instability when combined with other injuries. Over the following year, Krueger received an unusually high number of steroid injections for knee pain without ever being warned these injections could rupture tendons, weaken joints and cartilage, or destroy blood vessels — dangers a medical expert testified were known at the time. X-rays revealed several degenerative post-traumatic conditions Krueger was never told about, and after later feeling a piece of his knee break off during a play, he continued playing the rest of the season with a large dislodged fragment, never advised he risked permanent injury; had he been so advised, he testified he would not have played. Only after retirement was Krueger informed he had chronic, permanent, and irreversible knee disability that left him unable to stand, run, or use stairs without severe pain. Krueger sued the 49ers for fraud and deceit, and the team moved to dismiss.