A new study, set to be presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), shows more than 40 percent of retired NFL players had signs of traumatic brain injury based on sensitive MRI scans (called diffusion tensor imaging), according to a recent Washington Post article. The study involved taking the brain scans of 40 retired NFL players while giving them concentration and memory tests, with the participants having had an average career length of seven years, an average of 8.1 reported …
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Damage Control: NFL Reacts to Statements Made by League Executive About Link Between Football and CTE
On Friday, March 25, 2016, the National Football League beseeched the Third Circuit to not admit statements made by Jeff Miller, the NFL’s Senior Vice President for Health and Public Safety, at a recently-held U.S. Congressional committee roundtable meeting wherein Miller seemingly acknowledged a link between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This was largely seen as the first time the NFL had recognized such a connection.
The NFL put forth the position that players’ efforts to supplement the record with Miller’s statements should be denied …
Continue ReadingThe Fallout: A Day After the Release of New York Times Investigation Findings, NFL Hit with New Lawsuit
It certainly was not the last we heard of it, and it did not take long for the other shoe to drop. Just one day following the release of a New York Times article claiming extensive flaws in the National Football League’s concussion research as well as ties with the tobacco industry, the NFL was hit with yet another negligence putative class action lawsuit in Florida federal court. This lawsuit, brought on behalf of a proposed class of NFL athletes “preliminary diagnosed with a …
Continue ReadingConstant Controversy: NFL Donated Large Sums to Congressional Research Panel
The plot continues to thicken in the ongoing dispute between the National Football League and former athletes who claim that the league failed to warn them of the long-term health risks of repeated head injuries. MapLight, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to “revealing money’s influence on politics,” recently released findings that since 2008, the NFL political action committee has donated $292,000 to 41 of the 52 members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.
In December, the Committee announced that beginning in 2016, it would …
Continue ReadingThe Whole Picture: New York Times Investigation Calls into Question the NFL’s Concussion Research
“It was understood that any player with a recognized symptom of head injury, no matter how minor, should be included in the study.” — Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee
On Thursday, March 24, 2016, the New York Times published its conclusions following an investigation into research conducted by the National Football League from 1996 to 2001 into the dangers of head injuries to athletes. The Times’ investigation uncovered potentially major flaws and omissions in the research, as well as purported similarities between the NFL’s …
Continue ReadingHelmet Company Riddell Tries to Call Time-Out on Concussion Lawsuit
On the heels of the uncapped settlement in multidistrict litigation between the NFL and former players seeking damages for concussion-related conditions, helmet manufacturer Riddell Inc. has tried to call a time-out on their own multidistrict litigation.
A group of former NFL players filed two motions requesting a pretrial conference with Riddell in Pennsylvania Federal Court. Riddell filed a response arguing that the Rule 16(a) pretrial conference is premature and inappropriate based on three main factors. First, there is a pending appeal to the uncapped settlement …
Continue ReadingNFL Acknowledges Link Between Football and Brain Disease
There has been a lot of recent publicity regarding the NFL, concussions, brain disease, and player safety. This longstanding attention reached a surprising point on Monday, March 14, 2016 when the NFL’s top health and safety officer acknowledged a link between football-related head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
This acknowledgment arose during a concussion discussion assembled by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. During this discussion, Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president, was asked if there was …
Continue ReadingNHL Wants Independent Medical Examination of Former Players
In a Minnesota federal court on Monday, February 29, 2016, the National Hockey League filed a motion to compel the medical examinations of some of the former players in the concussion MDL suit currently sitting against the league. The NHL argues that in cases of this nature, i.e., those where a plaintiff makes a claim about his current and future mental and physical health, it is routine procedure for said plaintiff to undergo an independent examination. The league’s memo in support argues there exists good …
Continue ReadingNFL Concussion Litigation: Plantiffs’ Numbers Continue to Grow
On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, the children of retired NFL Quarterback Rudy Bukich joined the ongoing litigation against the NFL and Riddell Inc., alleging that the league and the helmet manufacturer were aware of the dangers of football but failed to take steps to mitigate it.
Rudy Bukich, now 85 years old, played for four NFL teams during the years of 1953 through 1968. The plaintiffs allege the following in their complaint:
Rudy Bukich has suffered extreme long-term brain damage, has advanced dementia, is kept …
Continue ReadingNFL’s Influence on Concussion Research Cannot be Overlooked, OTL Reports
In a recent Outside The Lines article posted earlier this month on ESPN.com, it was reported that the National Football League — under fire these days for its role in downplaying concussions and head trauma in professional sports — may be exerting inappropriate influence on scientific studies on concussions. The OTL article posits that this is not a new development either. According to the piece, the NFL has had its hand in funding scientific studies regarding concussions and their long-term effects since the mid-1990s. However, …
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