‘Winning took precedence over the health of players’: Jamie Cudmore set to sue Clermont

JAMIE CUDMORE IS set to take legal action against his former club, Clermont Auvergne, for medical negligence after he was allowed to return to play despite failing a mid-game concussion test.

The 38-year-old Canada international, who spent 11 years at the Top 14 club but has now moved to Oyonnax, has claimed team doctors failed in their medical duty to him on two separate occasions.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Cudmore said he suffered a serious head injury against Saracens in the 2015 Champions Cup semi-final but was allowed play on.

Then, in the final against Toulon at Twickenham two weeks later, the second-row was knocked unconscious shortly after kick-off and despite vomiting in the changing room, was given permission to return to action.

“We believe Clermont’s medical team failed in their duty of care to me as a player and did not have my best interests at heart,” he told the newspaper.

“Players need to be protected, especially in these big games when the result seems to be more important than people’s health.”

Cudmore is the second player to hold a former employer accountable for medical negligence. Former Leinster scrum-half Cillian Willis is attempting to sue Sale Sharks for the way their medics handled an incident in 2013.

The Dubliner believes that Sale and two doctors incorrectly treated two head injuries he sustained while playing against Saracens in the LV Cup. He was forced to retire a short time later.

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