Former Cleveland Browns receiver David Bell has filed a civil lawsuit seeking more than $300 million in damages, alleging that a group of Philadelphia-area doctors misrepresented his pelvic MRI results to push him into an unnecessary core muscle surgery that tore his femoral artery, nearly killed him, and ended his NFL career at age 24. The suit, filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, names Jefferson Health entities and 14 other defendants, including the surgeon who performed the procedure.
According to the New York Post, Bell is represented by Merson Law, and his legal team alleges the defendants duped him into believing the core muscle surgery, known as the Meyers Repair, was a relatively low-risk procedure intended to resolve residual pain from a prior hip injury. The lawsuit names Dr. William Meyers as the surgeon who performed the operation, alongside co-defendant Dr. Adam Zoga and the Vincera Institute. Per the complaint, the case centers on a pelvic MRI dated May 19, 2025, that classified Bell as a surgical candidate.
That May 19 scan stands in direct conflict with an earlier one. A pelvic MRI conducted at the Cleveland Clinic just five days prior, on May 14, 2025, had shown no need for surgical intervention at all, according to Pro Football Network. The lawsuit alleges the Philadelphia-based imaging was misrepresented to justify the operation that followed.
A Routine Procedure Turns Into a Medical Emergency
Bell underwent the core muscle surgery per the lawsuit's account, and what followed was catastrophic. The procedure caused severe damage to Bell's femoral artery, a life-threatening injury that permanently ended his football career, per NFLTradeRumors. The New York Post reports Bell was rushed to Thomas Jefferson Hospital for emergency vascular reconstruction, which prevented fatal blood loss and the loss of a limb.
The complaint does not stop at a single botched operation. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants billed patients for fraudulent MRIs as cover for dubious surgeries as part of a broader financial scheme, and that pelvic MRI findings were misrepresented across cases to justify unnecessary procedures. The lawsuit seeks more than $300 million in damages.
Attorneys Nathan Werksman and Brad Sohn said Bell's injury ruined his career and should never have happened, and that they intend to seek full justice for Bell while working to end what they describe as an ongoing conspiracy, according to the Post. Sohn said the yearlong investigation behind the lawsuit involved world-leading surgeons and radiologists, many of whom worked without fees, and that the findings gave the legal team confidence they could prove hundreds of millions of dollars were prioritized over patient safety.
Browns Franchise Explicitly Cleared of Fault
Bell's lead attorney Brad Sohn publicly confirmed that the Cleveland Browns franchise is not named in the lawsuit and has fully supported Bell throughout his medical recovery, Pro Football Network reports. The claims are isolated entirely to the medical defendants — Jefferson Health, Dr. Meyers, Dr. Zoga, and the Vincera Institute among them.
Bell played at Purdue from 2019 to 2021 and earned First-Team All-American honors in 2021, per the same NFLTradeRumors account. The Indianapolis native was drafted 99th overall in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft and signed a four-year rookie contract worth $5,044,908, going on to catch 41 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns across 32 regular-season games for Cleveland.
His final NFL action came in Week 2 of the 2024 season, when he suffered a season-ending hip injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars that did not require surgery, per the Post's reporting. Bell underwent a separate, off-field surgical complication during that offseason — the core muscle procedure now at the heart of the lawsuit. He officially announced his retirement in October 2025 at age 24, writing publicly that he was “blindsided by an off-field injury that was beyond my control.” Sportskeeda also reported his retirement.
Meyers' Medical Background
Dr. William Meyers founded the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia in 2013 and has evaluated more than 15,000 patients, with more than 25 years of experience, according to the Vincera Institute. Co-defendant Dr. Adam Zoga is also named in the lawsuit. Meyers has also spent decades pushing to eliminate the term “sports hernia” from medical literature, arguing the condition is more accurately classified as a complex core muscle injury involving tears to the lower rectus abdominis or adductor tendons near the pubic symphysis, Fox Sports has reported.
Jefferson Health has not responded to the Post's request for comment on Bell's lawsuit.
