Former NFL player, Warren Central star David Bell files lawsuit over botched surgery

Former NFL player and Indianapolis resident David Bell is suing several Philadelphia-based physicians, medical groups and other defendants, alleging that an unnecessary surgery nearly killed him and ended his football career.

The 25-year-old is seeking damages that are likely to exceed $300 million, according to the complaint filed Thursday in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas.

Defendants include The Vincera Institute, a medical specialty clinic; its founder and president, Dr. William Meyers; and Dr. Adam Zoga, medical director of radiology at Vincera Imaging. Other defendants include Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals and Jefferson Health, among others.

Jefferson Health’s website identifies Meyers as an associated clinician, meaning that he is on the medical staff at a Jefferson Health hospital but is not employed by the health system. The website lists Zoga as a Jefferson Health employee.

A spokeswoman for Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health said in an email: “Jefferson categorically denies these allegations. The physician who performed the procedure at issue is not employed by Jefferson. The surgery that forms the basis of the complaint was not performed at Jefferson. As acknowledged in the pleadings, Jefferson provided life-saving treatment to the patient and will vigorously defend its care and reputation.”

Indianapolis Business Journal sought comment from Vincera and Meyers by leaving a message with a Vincera receptionist but did not immediately receive a response. IBJ also emailed Zoga but did not receive a response.

Bell alleges in the complaint that he was “duped” into having unnecessary surgery to treat lingering pain from a hip dislocation he suffered during a September 2024 football game.

During the May 20, 2025 surgery at Vincera, the lawsuit alleges, Meyers sliced into Bell’s femoral artery. Bell was then transported to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for emergency surgery to repair the artery. The emergency surgery saved his life, but Bell alleges that the arterial injury ended his football career.

“Because of the injury to his femoral artery and the need to reconstruct it using an interposition graft, Bell had to retire from the NFL on Oct. 14, 2025,” the lawsuit says. “He can never play competitive football again and may require future surgery to correct and replace the graft.”

Bell, a 2018 graduate of Warren Central High School, played football at Purdue University. He left Purdue after his junior year, and the Cleveland Browns drafted him in 2022.

According to the lawsuit, Bell was recovering well from the hip dislocation and expected to return to play the following season, though he still had residual pain from the injury.

In May 2025, Bell went to Cleveland Clinic for a pelvic MRI. That MRI did not indicate the need for surgery, the lawsuit states.

A few days later, Bell alleges, he consulted Meyers at Vincera, where Meyers asked Bell to obtain another pelvic MRI. Bell had the MRI May 19, 2025, at Vincera Imaging, the lawsuit alleges.

The MRI results were normal, the lawsuit alleges, but Meyers told Bell that the MRI showed that he had a core muscle injury that required surgery. Zoga’s records also identified a core muscle injury, the complaint alleges.

Vincera Institute describes itself on its website as a pioneer in diagnosing and treating core muscle injuries, which the clinic says are often mistaken for sports hernias, groin pulls or other lower abdominal and pelvic problems. The clinic says it treats patients ranging from everyday people to pro athletes.

The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants engaged in a “comprehensive scheme” to justify the surgery by documenting nonexistent problems on patients’ MRIs.

The lawsuit alleges that this scheme has gone on for about two decades, creating a stream of patients for both the MRIs and for the surgeries.

“Bell’s own MRI exemplifies both the overall fraudulent scheme and also how he was duped into what became a near-death, career-ending and artery-slicing event,” the lawsuit says.