On the ice, Derek Boogaard was a bruiser, chalking up over his six-year National Hockey League career.
Off the ice, he fought a different type of battle. Boogaard had an addiction to painkillers -- one that would ultimately take his life in 2011.
Now, new information obtained by TSN and CTV's W5 show that the Medical Board of California is looking into one of the NHL鈥檚 top doctors. David Lewis is currently being investigated for how Boogaard鈥檚 case was handled after he was released from a Malibu rehab facility.
The case stems from a complaint made by Derek鈥檚 father Len Boogaard, who obtained his son鈥檚 medical files.
"I just want to know why. Why they let it happen,鈥� the former Mountie said. 鈥淵ou know there was no need for my son to die. All the checks and balances were in place but they ignored it."
Records show that during the last six months of Derek鈥檚 life, he failed 14 out of 19 drug tests. The document shows Boogaard tested positive for drugs like diphenhydramine and pseudoephedrine 鈥� found in Benadryl and Sudafed 鈥� but also morphine, oxycodone and other painkillers.
(You can a read a record of those failed drug tests at the bottom of this story.)
Despite this, NHL and NHL Players Association doctors didn鈥檛 suspend the New York Rangers left winger.
鈥淚t's a tragedy and a poor reflection on a system that's supposed to catch them and help them," says sports anti-doping expert Stuart Phillips.
For 20 years, the league has had a program in place to deal with substance abuse. League and union doctors are able to discipline players for positive drug tests.
In Boogaard鈥檚 case, that didn鈥檛 happen.
"They are in the entertainment business. They are looking at how to drive profit,鈥� says Paul Melia from the Canadian Centre For Ethics in Sport. 鈥淲here does the health and safety of their players fit?"
Recent emails from NHL executives when it came to dealing with head injuries.
In an email sent months after Boogaard鈥檚 death, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly appeared to link head injuries to problems off the ice.
"Fighting raises the incidence of head injuries/concussions, which raises the incidence of depression onset, which raises the incidence of personal tragedies," Daly wrote.
麻豆影视 reached out to Lewis and the NHL repeatedly, but received no response to requests for comment.
With a report by TSN Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead
