MIAMI (AP) -- Former Miami Dolphins receiver O.J. McDuffie is suing former and current team doctors for malpractice and gross negligence in the treatment of his 1999 big toe injury.
Lawyers for McDuffie filed a complaint Friday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court naming former Dolphins team physician John Uribe, current team physician Dan Kanell and radiologist Michael Thorpe.
Herman Russomano, McDuffie's lead attorney, said he expects to ask for a ``multimillion dollar'' settlement in the case for a ``betrayal of trust.''
``O.J. had a relationship with the team physicians and believed they were giving him the best information,'' Russomano said.
Telephone calls to Uribe's and Thorpe's offices at HealthSouth Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables and Kanell's office at Fort Lauderdale's Holy Cross Hospital weren't immediately returned Saturday.
Kanell and Thorpe declined comment Friday to The Miami Herald.
The team had no immediate comment, Dolphins spokesman Neal Gulkis said Saturday.
Released by the Dolphins on Feb. 28 after nine years with the team, McDuffie contends the injury worsened when he continued to play with it in 1999. He claims an MRI showed the injury was serious, but the Dolphins told him the exam was inconclusive.
He has had three surgeries on the toe since 1999 but said in March that he still has pain.
``O.J. is smart enough that if they had leveled with him and told him the full extent of what was wrong, he said he would have made the choice to not play and heal properly,'' Russomano said.
Uribe told McDuffie he would have a ``complete recovery'' and ``heal without incident,'' according to a report cited in a complaint.
The complaint said Uribe cleared McDuffie to play and injected him multiple times with anesthetics, such as cortisone, to dull the pain from the muscle and tendon injuries.
McDuffie did not play last season and was limited to nine games and 14 catches in 2000. He has 415 career catches -- fourth all-time on the Dolphins' career chart -- and led the league with 90 receptions in 1998.
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