HOUSTON (CN) - The NCAA's failure to implement a program to test black athletes for the sickle cell trait led to the death of a Rice University football player, his parents claim in Harris County court. Their son was given a creatinine shake which exacerbates the risk of kidney failure to those wtih the disease, says their complaint.
Dale Lloyd II began breathing heavily, suffering muscle tightness in his legs and having difficulty completing the 100 yard sprints that were part of weight training and conditioning program for Rice Owl players. Despite these signs of distress Lloyd's coaches, also named as defendants in the suit, forced him to continue running.
"Dale collapsed on the field, passed out and never regained consciousness," Lloyd's parents say. He died the next day due to complications from sickle cell.
Although one out of every 12 American blacks carry the sickle cell trait the NCAA does not test for it.
Nutritional supplement designers Optimal Nutrition Systems and Cytosport Inc. are also defendants in the suit. The Rice Owl coaching staff gave their players creatine manufactured by these companies during the fatal workout. Use of creatine-which converts to creatinine when it enters the body and becomes a toxic substance producing side effects of headaches, dehydration and kidney failure is known to increase the risk of kidney failure in sickle cell carriers, Lloyd's parents say.
An autopsy of Lloyd's body revealed that he died from elevated creatinine levels and acute kidney failure
The deceased athlete's parents Dale and Bridgette Lloyd, are represented by Mark Lanier of Houston.
HOUSTON (CN) - The NCAA and Rice University killed a black football player by failing to test him for sickle-cell anemia and feeding him creatine in the middle of a grueling workout, his mother says. Creatine increases the risk of kidney failure in people with sickle-cell anemia, the late Dale Lloyd's mother says.
Bridgette Lloyd says Rice and the NCAA never tested her son for sickle-cell anemia, though 1 in 8 African-Americans has the trait, and Rice and the NCAA require physical exams for football players.
Dale's football coach forced him to continue a grueling workout though the young man was obviously in physical distress, his mom says in Harris County Court.
"After the players finished weight lifting, the Rice University football coaches and staff prepared and distributed a nutritional supplemental shake to all the players," the complaint states. Then they made the student athletes do 16 x 100-yard wind sprints, during which her son collapsed. He died the next day.
She also sued the coaches and trainers, the NCAA, and Optimal Nutrition Systems and Cytosport, which allegedly made the creatine diet supplements. Optimal Nutrition Systems makes "Critical Reload" and Cytosport makes "Muscle Milk," the complaint states.
She says the Harris County Medical Examiner attributed her son's death to "'acute exertional rhabdomyolysis secondary to sickle cell trait,' and his medical records showed that he suffered from critically elevated creatinine levels and acute renal failure. Creatine breaks down into creatinine in the body.
"Dale's real cause of death was the defendants' intentional failure to test Dale for a highly prevalent African American disease all while continuing to put Dale in repeatedly lethal position in relation to his medical needs ...
"Dale died because of the color of his skin and the defendants' decision not to do anything about it."
She demands punitive damages for wrongful death, gross negligence and product liability. She is represented by W. Mark Lanier.
Follow @cam_langford
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