BOXER DIES WITH IMPUNITY
By Robert Ecksel November 9th, 2005When Beethavean Scottland, a 26-year-old light-heavyweight from North Brentwood, Maryland, was beaten into a coma by George Khalid Jones on June 26, 2001 aboard the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier/war museum dry-docked on the Hudson River, it send shock waves through the New York boxing community. Fingers pointed, tongues wagged, wrists got slapped, the state got a new commissioner, who rearranged the furniture, and it was back to business as usual.
At the time it looked like those who might have been responsible for the boxer’s death got off scot-free.
And now it’s official.
Last week Manhattan Supreme Court, Justice Sherry Klein Heitler dismissed a negligence lawsuit filed by Beethavean Scottland’s widow Denise against the two ringside physicians presiding that night, Drs. Gerard Varlotta and Rufus Sadler. The suit alleges, not unreasonably, that her husband was “unreasonably and violently pummeled” during the fight. But after lawyers for the doctors argued that the suit was alleging medical malpractice, and not medical negligence, and that the statute of limitations for such a claim had expired, the judge agreed and threw the case out of court.
“The court finds,â€? Judge Heitler wrote in Scottland v. Duva Boxing, 109169/04, “the physician defendants were retained as ringside physicians in their capacity as physicians, and they were charged with the duty to exercise reasonable medical care to provide an ongoing medical diagnosis of the boxing participants’ physical condition throughout the match. This holding is consistent with the boxer’s reasonable expectation that a ringside physician will call the match if necessary to protect his or her well-being, as well as attend to any injuries the boxer sustains during the match.”
Scottland’s wife initiated the present action on June 21, 2004, a week short of the third anniversary of the bout. The timing of the filing became crucial, as it fell within the three-year statute of limitation for personal injury claims, but outside the two-and-a-half-year statute for medical malpractice claims.
Separate actions against New York State, the New York State Athletic Commission, and Duva Boxing are ongoing in the Court of Claims, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.
“In sum,â€? concluded Judge Heitler, “the court’s review of the applicable regulations leads it to conclude that the Legislature’s primary purpose in requiring the presence of ringside physicians, in addition to the referee and other personnel, is to ensure the safety of the match participants. In this regard, this case falls outside the rubric of those cited by plaintiff for the proposition that no physician-patient relationship existed between Scottland and defendants. In essence, then, plaintiff’s claims against [the defendants] sound in medical malpractice and have expired under the applicable Statute of Limitations.”
There ought to be a law against paying lawyers in lieu of paying a dead boxer’s widow. Too bad it makes no dollars and sense.
November 10th, 2005 at 12:15 pm
I just wanted to comment on the online article you, Robert Ecksel, wrote titled “Boxer Dies With Impunity”.
Although the law strictly was upheld, from what I was able to gather from your viewpoint in the article, justice wasn’t.
I have been a boxing fan since childhood and have grown to understand that the “sweet science” is arguably one of the most dangerous sports on the planet (considering that more athletes die in boxing than in other dangerous sports such as NASCAR, Mixed Martial Arts combat fights, etc.). However, that being said, those that are making a living in this sport also do so voluntarily, exposing themselves freely and openly to a sport where death can be literally a punch away.
Needless to say, I am not taking any responsibility away from the physicians at ringside. These need to act in the best judgement of the well-being of each fighter (not the promotors, cable stations, PPV, etc.), even if that means causing controversy. We need to remember that the only tools these physicians have in the ring are there instinctive medical judgement. There are no MRIs, CAT scans, X-ray machines, etc., in the ring during a fight.
Damage to fighters in the ring aren’t always that easy to notice. How many controversies have arisen from fighters who have given up instead of continuing to fight? We call them cowards and heartless tin-men when they don’t answer the bell or say “NO MAS”, but yet we sigh when we see an out-classed boxer who is punched silly while the referee only stands by and looks from afar. I could name many fights in which the fighter received a concussion or a herniated disk in the neck which was only diagnosed after the outcome of the fight (remember Tyson/Golota or Hatton/Tszyu?; you’re in a better position to add to that list as you see fit).
Fighters need to be taught that they should listen to what their bodies are telling them and NOT their hearts. If fighters are taught the damaging effects, be it long-term and short-term, of getting hit by a boxing glove with more than 35 pounds of pressure, they may be able to sit on their stool when the bell rings and quit to fight another day, rather than become the present-day Jake LaMotta’s that are known more for the brutal beatings they received than the ones they dished out.
Although the judge clearly stated that there was medical malpractice at fault in the death of Beethavean Scottland, it is not the judicial system that will change the safety measures involved in this sport, but the legislative system. Too many times are we trying to lock the barn door after the horses have left. We, as lovers of the sport, if not for the sport but for the athletes we’ve grown to admire and respect, owe it to the loved ones of boxers like Beethavean to draw the line in the sand and regulate boxing in a manner where we can see these boxers enter the Boxing Hall of Fame while still alive, and cherish the fruit of a famed career rather than the damage of job that was too much for them.
November 11th, 2005 at 6:22 am
When a boxer who has nothing to do with a situation starts making comments like he is, I guess its because they feel ignored and have to say something to hear themselves.
I guess John Ruiz just made the saying true:
“Those that CAN’T DO, TEACH”.