A prominent orthopedic surgeon denied during testimony Wednesday, Dec. 3 in the Tyler Skaggs wrongful death trial that he was informed of the Los Angeles Angels pitcher’s issues with opioids when he performed Tommy John surgery on him in 2014.
The testimony by Dr. Neal ElAttrache contradicted earlier claims by Skaggs’ mother that he was told Skaggs had battled an addiction to painkillers. Since the medical procedure was effectively a workers compensation issue for the Angels, the organization would have had access to medical records tied to the Tommy John surgery; exactly what the team knew about Skaggs’ use of illicit pills and when they knew it is a key question in the ongoing trial.
“Were you ever advised by Tyler Skaggs or anyone in his family that Tyler had a previous issue with opioids?” asked Stephen Ladsous, an attorney for the Angels.
“I can’t recall ever having that discussion,” said ElAttrache, who, along with serving as the head team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Rams, has performed surgery on numerous celebrities and sports figures. “I can’t recall ever linking, in my mind, opioid problems and Tyler.”
ElAttrache confirmed that he prescribed Percocet and oxycodone to help Skaggs deal with his recovery from surgery. The doctor added that had he known of Skaggs’ issues with opioids, he would have instead referred him to a pain management specialist.
“I want to know what is available to me and if the typical ways to relieve pain are not available to me there are other ways we can do it,” ElAttrache said. “But we can’t go bare after surgery.”
Skaggs, according to testimony and evidence presented during the ongoing trial, routinely used illicit opioid pills obtained for him by Eric Kay, a Los Angeles Angels communications staffer. Skaggs also informed several other players that Kay could get pills for them as well.
Skaggs died in a Texas hotel room in 2019 at the start of a team road trip. He had snorted a counterfeit pill that Kay provided him that turned out to contain fentanyl, combined with oxycodone and alcohol. Kay is serving prison time for his role in Skaggs’ death.
Family members have acknowledged that Skaggs in 2013 told them about issues he had with Percocet. He was pitching at the time for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The family — as well as Skaggs’ wife and his agent — have denied knowing at the time that his opioid use continued after he was traded to the Angels in 2014.
“I did not think he was using,” said Ryan Hamill, Skaggs’ agent, of the pitchers’ time with the Angels. “I never saw any signs”
During the defense phase of the trial, attorneys for the Angels have continually elicited testimony about Skaggs’ efforts to hide his addiction. They are expected to argue that by hiding his drug use, Skaggs made it impossible for the team to help him and prevent his death.
Attorneys for the team have also pushed back against claims by other former Angels players that the pressure and wear and tear of professional baseball led them to turn to illicit opioids.
In one text exchange from August 2018 shown in court on Wednesday, Skaggs complained that he was hurting after a pitching start but couldn’t get the team to give him a “dose pack,” a prescribed, tapered course of anti-inflammatory steroids. Hamill, his agent, texted Skaggs that teams usually gave those packs out “like candy.” but the agent refused Skaggs’ request for him to secretly obtain a pack for him, noting it would be illegal.
Hamill, during his testimony, acknowledged that teams have since dialed back their reliance on dose packs, since they can be bad for a players liver.
“I’d say they were one of the first teams to pull back on handing them out,” he said of the Angels.
Hamill hesitated when asked if he blamed his former client for his illicit drug use.
“I don’t blame Tyler.” he said after a long pause. “I just wish he would have told me.”
Employees who worked in the Angels’ front office — including in the communication and HR departments — have denied knowing that Kay had his own opioid addiction issues or that he was providing pills to Skaggs and other players. But several members of the clubhouse — as well as Kay’s ex-wife — have testified that Kay’s addiction issues were well-known by the team and that they were warned of his drug connections to Skaggs.
The trial is on break Thursday, but testimony will continue Friday in an Orange County Superior Courtroom in Santa Ana.