Recently, the NFL has faced a string of lawsuits related to brain injury and the resulting onset of brain disease filed by former players and their families. The most recent is a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a former linebacker.

The family of former linebacker Wally Higenberg filed a wrongful death suit in federal court today, and the lawsuit claims Higenberg died from a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated concussions sustained during his long career in the NFL. Wally Higenberg played in the NFL for 16 seasons. He went to four Super Bowls with the Minnesota Vikings and he also played for the Detroit Lions before he retired from the NFL in 1979.

After his retirement from the NFL, Higenberg formed a successful real estate business with a former teammate, but in 2003 Higenberg began to suffer from memory loss and muscle weakness. He was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Higenberg died in 2008 at age 66. Some of Higenberg's organs were donated to Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalomyopathy, and the University later announced the former professional linebacker's death was caused by Chronic Traumatic Encephalomyopathy.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Higenberg's family argues that the NFL has known about the dangers of repeated concussions for decades and as recently as 2009, the league has tried to cover up the link between concussions and long-term mental health issues among former players. A study funded by the NFL found that more than 6 percent of NFL players age 50 and older reported being diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer's and other memory related conditions. In comparison, the study found that only 1.2 percent of men age 50 and older in the general population were diagnosed with dementia and related illnesses.

Source: Courthouse News Service, "Vet's family sues NFL for wrongful death," Philip A. Janquart, Feb. 13, 2012