Former LSU safety Greg Brooks Jr. filed a lawsuit against LSU and Our Lady of the Lake, a local medical center that LSU Athletics relies on in a sports medicine partnership, in August of this year.
The lawsuit, obtained by the Reveille, was filed in East Baton Rouge Parish and was first reported by Yahoo Sports.
Brooks was diagnosed with a brain tumor in September of 2023 by Our Lady of the Lake doctors and had emergency surgery that has left him disabled and unable to walk.
The lawsuit alleges that there was medical negligence involved in the circumstances leading up to Brooks’ brain surgery.
“While LSU cannot comment on ongoing litigation, Greg Brooks remains in our thoughts and prayers as he continues to work through the rehabilitation process. Since the beginning of our agreement with our Championship Health Partner, Our Lady of the Lake, they have provided exceptional medical care for our student-athletes in all of our sports,” LSU said in a statement to Yahoo Sports.
Brooks alleges that LSU’s athletic training staff failed to properly treat him in the weeks before the operation, as he was consistently suffering from clear neurological symptoms like dizziness, headache and nausea. Instead, the training staff made diagnoses of vertigo or administered Zofran without having Brooks see team doctors, according to Brooks.
Furthermore, Brooks says that team coaches told him that if he missed time his starting position would be at risk.
When LSU arranged for Brooks to see a neurologist on Sept. 13, 2023, 39 days after initially experiencing symptoms, the doctors discovered he had a brain tumor.
According to Brooks, Our Lady of the Lake then arranged for a surgery the next day without informing him of other options, such as a surgery with experts at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
The surgeon Our Lady of the Lake and LSU selected, Dr. Brandon Gaynor, specializes in adult spinal surgery, and Brooks alleges that he should’ve been assigned a surgeon with a specialty in pediatric brain surgery.
Brooks says he suffered multiple seizures during the surgery, and the complications left him permanently disabled.
LSU has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Brooks via the Greg Brooks Jr. Victory Fund and has put in place honorary field markings and helmet decals of his No. 3, the jersey number he wore.
However, the lawsuit alleges that these efforts were made in order to “appeal favorable in the public’s eye.” In addition, LSU has not transferred ownership of the Victory Fund to Brooks and his family, making it so that Brooks “cannot access the fund,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit also says that the public medical updates the team and head coach Brian Kelly have given on Brooks since his procedure were violations of his privacy and were “false and misleading.”
An exception hearing is scheduled for Feb. 10, 2025.
Brooks is represented by attorney Kara Samuels of Kara Samuels & Associates.
