Advanced search

Read PDF version

CMPA assistance when treating professional athletes

Of interest to all physicians

A review of medico-legal actions in professional sport in the United States reveals an alarming trend of increasingly expensive actions against physicians providing care to professional athletes. Even relatively unknown and retired professional athletes are receiving financial awards and settlements amounting to several million dollars. As an increasing number of professional athletes sign extremely lucrative contracts, potential legal actions arising from the care of these athletes could result in astronomical settlements or court awards. The CMPA has a responsibility to its national membership to avoid such potential catastrophic medico-legal outcomes.

General principles

The principles on how the CMPA will, in general, consider requests for assistance in legal matters arising from the provision of care to professional athletes are detailed here. These include circumstances where:

• members act as team physicians;
• members, who are not team physicians, are providing urgent or emergent medical care at major professional sporting events; and
• members who in the normal course of their practice provide medical care to
  professional athletes who are residents of Canada.

Team physicians for professional teams

In general, members will be eligible for CMPA assistance:

• When acting as a team physician for Canadian professional sports teams, but not major league North American-based professional sports teams from the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and the National Football League. Canadian professional sports teams may include minor league affiliates of major league North American-based professional sports teams.
• When acting as a team physician for Canadian Olympic and national teams which may include professional athletes, provided only a few members of the team are professional athletes from major league North American-based professional sports teams. Members are encouraged to contact the CMPA to confirm their eligibility for assistance if acting as a team physician for an Olympic or national team that consists of at least one professional athlete from a major league North American-based professional sports team.

In general, members will not be eligible for CMPA assistance:

• When acting as a team physician for major league North American-based professional sports teams from the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and the National Football League.
• When acting as a team physician for Canadian Olympic and national teams that consist largely of professional athletes from major league North American-based professional sports teams.

A team physician for a major league North American-based professional sports team is defined as a physician who has a financial or other arrangement with a major league North American-based professional sports team. This includes a physician who, on behalf of the team, participates in pre-season assessment and training camp, provides ongoing care for injuries and illnesses during the season and out of season, and/or provides medical coverage at sporting events and makes return-to-play decisions.

Urgent or emergent care

The CMPA will generally extend assistance to members (excluding members who are acting as team physicians) who are asked to provide urgent or emergent medical care to professional athletes at major professional sporting events in Canada (including major league North American-based professional sporting events). This may include events at which professional athletes compete such as professional tennis, golf and the Olympics.

Urgent or emergent care will not generally include making fitness-to-play or return-to-play decisions beyond the advice required for that specific sporting event. For example, physicians providing urgent or emergent care at a tennis tournament can make return-to-play decisions during that tournament, but not beyond that event. Members who provide non-urgent or non-emergent medical care to a professional athlete at a major professional sporting event will not generally be eligible for assistance.

In all circumstances, the CMPA's approach to assisting members who provide care to patients who are not ordinarily residents of Canada continues to apply. The CMPA will generally extend assistance to members who treat non-resident patients in urgent or emergent circumstances, provided that:

1. the care was provided in Canada; and
2. the members made reasonable efforts, in the circumstances, to obtain an executed Governing Law and Jurisdiction Agreement in a form satisfactory to the CMPA, where the members knew or ought to have known that the patient was ordinarily resident outside of Canada.

Care in the normal course of practice

The CMPA will generally extend assistance to members who, in the normal course of their medical practice (excluding those areas of their normal practice which involve acting as the team physician for major league North American-based professional sports teams), provide medical care to professional athletes who are residents of Canada. This may include professional athletes on major league North American-based professional sports teams and professional athletes who compete at major professional sporting events such as professional tennis, wrestling, boxing, motor sport and golf.

When a member acts as the primary care physician for a professional athlete who is resident in Canada, the member will generally be eligible for assistance with medico-legal difficulties arising in Canada.

The bottom line

• Members who provide care to athletes should be aware of the CMPA’s assistance when they are acting as a team physician; when they are not acting as a team physician but are providing urgent or emergent medical care at major professional sporting events; and when they, in the normal course of their practice, provide medical care to professional athletes who are residents of Canada.
• If you have any questions please contact the CMPA at 1 800 267-6522 or use the General Inquiry form.