A federal appellate court has revived a lawsuit against the National Football League brought by former players who claim they were inappropriately administered painkillers during their playing days to keep them on the field.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco previously dismissed the lawsuit brought on behalf of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Richard Dent and nine retired players who were seeking to represent a class of more than 1,000 former players. Alsup found that the players’ claims were pre-empted by the federal Labor Management Relations Act, the law which prohibits state law claims based on rights created by collective bargaining agreements or claims “substantially dependent on analysis” of those labor agreements.