The National Football League Players Association has dismissed a neurologist who approved Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for gameplay after he sustained a head injury in a Sept. 25 game against the Buffalo Bills, according to an Oct. 1 report from The New York Times.
Four days later, Mr. Tagovailoa sustained a second head injury and had to be carted off of the field during a game.
The physician who approved Mr. Tagovailoa's return was an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who was approved by the NFL union, and is being removed for violating concussion protocol by allowing Mr. Tagovailoa to immediately return to the field.
The dismissed physician has not been publicly named.
It is unclear whether Dolphins' head physician, John Uribe, MD, had a say in the final decision to let Mr. Tagovailoa resume gameplay against the Bills.