NFL Players Union Seeks to Block Suspensions

The union's lawsuit says the NFL-appointed doctor and the NFL lawyer who administer the league's steroids policy both knew StarCaps contained bumetanide. It alleges they breached their duty to the players and endangered their physical well-being by not notifying players.

This Aug. 1, 2007 file photo shows New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant (94) trying to get...

This Aug. 1, 2007 file photo shows New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant (94) trying to get past offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb (78) during drills at the NFL football team's training camp in Jackson, Miss. The NFL Players Association is suing to block five of the six player suspensions for violating the league's anti-doping policy. The suit is on behalf of Minnesota Vikings Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, and New Orleans Saints Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister and Will Smith. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

(AP)

"It's just common sense that someone shouldn't be punished in those circumstances," David Feher, a lawyer for the union, told The Associated Press.

In letters to the Vikings and Saints on Tuesday, NFL executive vice president Jeffrey Pash acknowledged: "No specific advisory or other communication regarding the presence of bumetanide in StarCaps was sent to NFL players."

But the NFL contends it's not obligated by its agreements with the union to issue specific warnings about specific products.

Pash wrote that in 2006, the NFL sent written notice to the presidents, general managers and head trainers of all NFL teams, as well as to NFLPA executive Stacey Robinson that the distributor of StarCaps, Balanced Health Products, had been added to the league's list of prohibited dietary supplement companies. He also wrote that Robinson, who oversees steroid policy for the union, had added the distributor to the list of banned companies on the union's Web site.

The players union says that notice wasn't enough, given that the league had specific knowledge that StarCaps contained a banned substance.

Dr. John Lombardo, who oversees the league's steroids policy, "expressly knew and willfully withheld the critical information that StarCaps secretly contained the banned diuretic substance," the filings say. They also say that NFL vice president Adolpho Birch, who also oversees the policy, withheld the information that StarCaps "contained a prohibited substance that could jeopardize the health and career of any player who used the product."

According to the filings, during the players' arbitration hearings last month a consulting toxicologist for the league, Dr. Bryan Finkel, testified Lombardo told him he did not disclose what he knew because he wasn't sure whether all StarCaps products contained the banned drug. Finkel also said he was afraid the supplement manufacturer might sue him if he made a public statement against the product.