Recent Congressional Hearings on Football Concussions
Alexander Hamilton US Customs House
With the growing firestorm from DeMaurice Smith’s recent comments about retired players’ relations, we forgot to mention that the Congressional Judiciary Committee held a Forum this past Monday (May 24th) in New York City on Key Issues Related to the Identification and Prevention of Head Injuries in Football. Among the people speaking were Dr. H. Hunt Batjer and Dr. Richard Elenbogen, the two newly-appointed co-chairs of the NFL’s “Mild” Traumatic Brain Injury Committee – er, wait – they changed it to the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee! So what happened to concussions and brain injuries? Did they just magically disappear? We almost miss Dr. No!
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Much of the focus was on high school injuries but there were some interesting questions posed to the group in general and to the NFL’s doctors in particular. It looks like we’re still going to be waiting a while for some clear answers.
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The video link was just posted on the Congressional hearing – click on the PLAY > arrow to load and watch.
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The New York Times Alan Schwarz wrote two articles covering the hearing held in his backyard at the Alexander Hamilton US Customs House:
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High School Athletes Detail Troubles With Concussions to a House Panel
By ALAN SCHWARZ
Published: May 20, 2010
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While her fellow high school freshmen in Alexandria, Va., might travel to Washington or stage a mock congress to connect with government affairs, Sarah Rainey joined the real thing Thursday when she testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor about her harrowing experience with sports concussions.
David Hartzler
Sarah Rainey, 14, testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor on Thursday.
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“I sometimes now have to use a calculator to do simple arithmetic — it takes me three times as long to do anything,” said Rainey, 14, who sustained a concussion five weeks ago while playing varsity soccer for West Potomac High School. She added, “Even when my head is not pounding, I always feel like I am wearing a compression headband.”
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Three previous hearings and forums before the House Judiciary Committee were dominated by doctors’ and coaches’ views on concussion management in football, specifically the N.F.L., and several state legislatures have passed or are considering bills that require stronger concussion education and policies in youth sports.
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Read the rest of the article – click HERE.
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House Panel Criticizes New N.F.L. Doctors
By ALAN SCHWARZ
Published: May 24, 2010
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In what could have been a fresh start for the N.F.L.’s committee on head injuries, its two new co-chairmen, making their first official remarks on concussions before a House Judiciary Committee panel on Monday in Manhattan, were heatedly rebuked by lawmakers for sounding “like the same old N.F.L.”
Richard Perry/The New York Times
Preston Plevretes, right, who sustained brain damage during a college football game, at the hearing with his father, Ted.
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That characterization by Linda T. Sánchez, Democrat of California, was the most pointed comment toward Dr. Richard Ellenbogen and Dr. Hunt Batjer, the two new N.F.L. committee co-chairmen, whose predecessors resigned last fall amid questions of bias and poor science.
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Although other witnesses Monday included two retired N.F.L. players, the mother of an injured college player and three other doctors, the gathering became a litmus test for the N.F.L.’s new leaders on the issue of head injuries.
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Read the rest of the article – click HERE.
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EDITOR’S NOTE May 29th: We just obtained a video copy of the 2+ hours of testimony through the Congressional site and posted it separately HERE for viewing.
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Tweets that mention Recent Congressional Hearings on Football Concussions - Dave Pear's Blog -- Topsy.com
May 27th, 2010 at 7:14 am #
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by IRISH GIRL COLLEEN, RobertinSeattle. RobertinSeattle said: Recent Congressional Hearings on Football Concussions: With the growing firestorm from DeMaurice Smith’s recent co… http://bit.ly/bt4jbB [...]
Lionel James
June 29th, 2010 at 10:47 am #
I often get fans wanting an autograph and mostly it’s on a bubblegum card. So I usually just sign and send them back. I just found one that I’d never seen before. Apparently, the card was a scratch-off made for McDonald’s in 1986! Well, this was a shocker to me because I had never seen or heard of these cards. Does anyone else know about these? If so, is there anyone looking into this kind of NFL activity?
I’m saving the card and will try and send a picture. Another view of the sleight-of-hand by the NFL and maybe NFLPA???
Lionel James
San Diego Chargers
1984 – 1988