By all the press accounts, it looks like the new co-chairmen of the NFL’s committee on head injuries fumbled their first appearance at a Congressional hearing on football and concussions Monday. One would have thought that Dr. Richard Ellenbogen and…
NFL Commissioner Goodell Asks 44 Governors To Pass Youth Concussion Laws
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell last week sent letters to the governors of 44 states imploring them to pass laws, like the one in Washington state, that protect young student athletes who suffer concussions. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvOCfeO2dM98z2jlCj7eqv0lDfUwD9FSM7OO2 Goodell’s letter, according to the…
Female High School Athletes Describe The Lingering After Effects Of Their Concussions
Female high school athletes last week told a congressional committee about how the concussions they sustained playing sports changed their lives for the worse, as they continue to struggle to do tasks as simple as basic arithmetic. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/sports/football/21concussions.html The House Committee on Education and…
House Committee Sets May 24 New York Hearing On Concussions
The House Judiciary Committee has set a May 24 hearing in New York to get information on concussions and other brain trauma in football. http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/house-committee-to-discuss-concussions-in-new-york-forum/ So far the committee has held three events on brain injury and the National Football…
More on Roethlisberger, TBI and the Criminal Law
More on Roethlisberger and brain damage? I am not really talking about Roethlisberger anymore. Roethlisberger’s behavior issues, the potential that they could be neurobehavioral issues, got people interested in the topic. But on the spectrum of severe neurobehavioral concerns, a…
Roethlisberger: Could Brain Injury Excuse his Actions?
A little over a month ago, I suggested that there could be a relationship between Ben Roethlisberger’s difficulties with the NFL (and the law) and brain injuries he has suffered. See http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2010/03/football-and-brain-damage-the-cautionary-tale-of-steelers-quarterback-roethlisberger.html On Sunday that idea was picked up by…
No Twelve Step Program for Brain Injury Rehabilitation
While we don’t know the details, we certainly know that two of our country’s finest and most famous athletes have made public apologies for sexual interactions with women – Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger. On another of our blogs yesterday,…
As Part Of Policy Change On TBI, Defense Department Readies Databases On Concussions
With traumatic brain injury (TBI) turning out to be one of the plagues of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Defense Department is creating databases to track such cases. It’s a smart move. http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100420_9199.php?oref=topstory The initiative is part…
Injured Running Backs Are Damaged Goods To NFL
National Football League scouts are concerned about the injuries, including concussions, that prospective running backs have received, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/91289844.html Writer Bob McGinn – perhaps tongue in cheek, perhaps not – writes, “Across draft boards across…
Doctors Extract Live Explosive From Soldier’s Head In Afghanistan
Sometimes the truth is just as strange as fiction. The medical drama Grey’s Anatomy had a two-part episode several years ago about surgeons having to extract an unexploded bomb from a man’s chest. U.S. military surgeons in Afghanistan recently had…