Who is Dr. David Chao? All you need to know about controversial doctor who is NFL’s top TV injury expert
Dr. David Chao serves as the chief NFL medical analyst on The Pat McAfee Show, which now airs across all of ESPN’s platforms.
Chao, otherwise known as “Pro Football Doc,” has amassed well over 200,000 followers on X.
Chao also appears on SiriusXM, Fox Sports Radio and is the official injury expert of FanDuel.
Once the team doctor for the Los Angeles Chargers, Chao has been sued by nearly two dozen patients and accused of aiding his former medical partner’s addiction to prescription painkillers.
The California Medical Board, which placed Chao on five-year probation in 2014, investigated him for prescribing Ambien to Junior Seau in the months prior to his suicide.
NFL Players Association’s complaints against Chao went well beyond typical disagreements.
NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith called for Chao to be replaced in early 2013, citing his gross history of controversies and alleged negligence.
A patient who sued Chao for crippling her with a botched hip replacement (payout $2.2 million), or the poor man who lost a leg while Chao was partying at a nightclub.
Despite overseeing the operation, Chao left the hospital and failed to appoint another doctor to oversee his patient’s care.
When the knee surgery went terribly wrong, Chao was unreachable. He said he was visiting his sick mother, but receipts show he was running up a $300 tab at a local club.
It’s apparent that Chao liked to party in his capacity as the Chargers’ doctor and write out prescriptions without scrutiny.
Those two toxic traits led to tragic results.
A drinking buddy of Seau’s, Chao was placed on four-year probation for failing to exercise proper caution when it came to the ex-linebacker’s medical care.
During the last 18 months of Seau’s life, Chao wrote him 14 prescriptions for Ambien, even though the linebacker exhibited signs of depression and suicidal thought.
Several years earlier, the California Medical Board investigated Chao for writing painkiller prescriptions to his medical partner, who was addicted to the life-destroying drugs.
Former Chargers running back Mark Montreuil sued Chao and his partner, David Losse, claiming that Losse operated on his knee while high.
Federal drug enforcement agents also searched Chao’s office after learning he wrote more than 100 prescriptions out to himself (the investigation was closed two years later).
When Chao stepped down as the Chargers’ team doctor in 2013, just a few months after the NFLPA had called for his dismissal, he cited health problems and his desire to spend more time with family.
But around that same time, two San Diego-area hospitals barred him from performing surgery.
CNBC wrote a piece about Chao’s rising stardom in 2019, and didn’t cover his unceremonious exit from the Chargers, or anything less about his past.
Later that year, Forbes literally published an article titled “The Rise of Dr. David Chao,” and omitted his professional history entirely.
It’s very much an art form, I think,
Dr. Chao bragged in the article.
I think it’s a very specialized task I’m doing. I pay a lot of attention to it and take a lot of pride in it.
David Chao, MD
Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon located in Encinitas, CA, San Diego, CA & Temecula, CA
As an orthopedic surgeon for nearly 25 years, David Chao, MD, holds a subspecialty certification in the field of sports medicine.
He works with the rest of the OasisMD team to treat patients in Encinitas, San Diego, and Temecula, California, achieve their optimal health.
Dr. Chao graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a degree in psychobiology.
He then attended medical school at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, graduating with honors.
After finishing his medical degree, Dr. Chao went on to complete a residency in orthopedic surgery at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
During his time as an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Chao developed a particular passion for helping athletes recover from injuries.
After his residency, he chose to complete a fellowship in sports medicine at the Minneapolis Sports Medicine Center, specializing in shoulder and knee problems.
Dr. Chao also has extensive experience in ACL reconstruction, arthroscopic surgery, tennis elbow surgery, and knee and hip replacements. In addition, he has served as a physician for many professional sports teams.
Dr. Chao is the former chief medical officer for ESPN’s X Games and the former team physician for the USA Sevens rugby team.
He has also served as the team physician for many local universities, a medical consultant for the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc (WWE), and the host physician for the United States Olympic Committee.
Many Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Football League (NFL) athletes across the nation have consulted with Dr. Chao for his recommendations.
Dr. Chao is a current member of the international ACL Study Group, the NFL Physicians Society, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and several other societies.
Dr. David Chao spent 17 years as team doctor with the San Diego Chargers.
Dr. Chao has seen his status grow as almost a dozen states have legalized sports gambling with others poised to continue to do so.
Not only are the more than 47 million people who play fantasy football searching for a competitive edge, but the countless bettors in the United States who have surpassed $10 billion in wagers since May 2018 are hungry for real-time, educated analysis and insights as well, especially with their hard-earned dollars at stake.
