Dave Pear's Blog

DANIEL G. AMEN, MD RESPONDS TO JUNIOR SEAU SUICIDE
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“These players need to know there IS help for them!”
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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (May 3, 2012) — While Junior Seau’s apparent suicide breaks the hearts of football fans nationwide, Daniel G. Amen, MD pleads with other football players and athletes that “there’s help from chronic traumatic brain injuries, depression, irritability and memory problems they suffer.”
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Dr. Amen, founder and CEO of Amen Clinics, Inc., and two-time Board Certified psychiatrist has conducted three clinical studies with 115 active and former players from the National Football League. Each study shows that it’s not only possible, it’s likely, that with a brain-directed health protocol, significant improvement can been experienced in decision making, reasoning, depression, mood and memory.
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“Junior Seau was a legend. But even legends cannot escape the ravages of chronic brain damage,” said Dr. Amen, who is the lead researcher on three published studies on NFL players and brain damage. He is also a leading researcher on a brain imaging study called SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) and has looked at over 73,000 scans.
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“My message to the football community is that players need to get their brains examined before they play and after they stop and at any time they get a concussion. I often say how do you know unless you look.”
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Dr. Amen began studying the effects of football on brain health in 1999 when Brent Boyd, a former NFL player came to the Amen Clinics. After Anthony Davis came to the clinic in 2007 his work with active and former NFL players took off. He has partnered with the Los Angeles Chapter of the Retired NFL Players Association to performed the world’s largest brain imaging/brain rehabilitation study.
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“Our studies found significant evidence that, fortunately, there are treatment protocols that can often reverse many of the symptoms caused by brain damage and improve brain function.” The studies include:
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1. Effects of Elevated Body Mass in Professional American Football Players on rCBF and Cognitive Function, Transl Psychiatry (2012) 2, eK, doi:10.1038/tp.2011.67
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2. Impact of Playing Professional American Football on Long Term Brain Function. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 23:1, Winter 2011, 98-106.
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3. Reversing Brain Damage in Former NFL Players: Implications for TBI and Substance Abuse Rehabilitation. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 43 (1), 2011 Online publication date: 08 April 2011
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“Junior may have damaged his pre-frontal cortex which is responsible for decision making,” Dr. Amen said, also noting that Seau was arrested in 2010 for domestic violence which also may have been a result of poor decision making. “Brain trauma symptoms can appear decades after the playing days and can include dementia, memory loss, violent behavior, obesity, mental illness and depression. And unfortunately, suicide is more common in people who have experienced brain trauma.”
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The Amen Clinics, Inc. (ACI) was founded in 1989 by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. Amen Clinics now has locations in Newport Beach and San Francisco, California, Bellevue, Washington and Reston, Virginia (www.amenclinics.com). ACI specializes in using detailed clinical histories, brain imaging, and lab testing for innovative diagnosis and treatment for a wide variety of problems, including weight issues, ADD, anxiety, depression, autistic spectrum disorders, and memory problems. Dr. Amen is a physician, child and adult psychiatrist, brain-imaging specialist, and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Amen has authored five New York Times bestsellers “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” “Change Your Brain, Change Your Body,” “Magnificent Mind At Any Age,” “The Amen Solution” and his latest “Use Your Brain to Change Your Age.” ACI is headquartered at 4019 Westerly Place, #100, Newport Beach, California. For more information, call (888) 564-2700.
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The peasants are now at the gate

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In any revolution, it’s always interesting to hear comments coming in from both sides of the fence. In the case of NFLPA and the retired player community at large, the battle lines could almost be drawn as a battle between the Haves vs. the Have-Nots. The royalty are holed up in their ivory tower enjoying the privileges that any inside clique always seem to enjoy, oblivious to the starving peasants outside the palace walls. Even with the growing voices of thousands of their fellow retired players getting louder by the day, there are still those in denial.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave has still been included in this ongoing local (Seattle) e-mail chain from yesterday as he’s still a dues-paying member of the NFLPA. We’re posting these four latest e-mail exchanges here in unedited format for viewing and we’re also posting a separate rebuttal in a second post (click HERE).
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From: Harrison, Nolan [mailto:Nolan.HarrisonIII@nflplayers.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 1:35 PM
Subject: RE: Former Player’s Benefit Increase?
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There will be an official benefits statement coming from both parties. A couple of things that were accidentally left out of the CBA summary (sorry, everyone is rushing to meet the memberships demand for information) was the improvements to Plan 88 more on workers comp and long term care.
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Over the weekend, the retired players and the attorneys involved with the Eller et al vs. NFL et al class action lawsuit released a letter addressed to all retirees to outline a call for unity as well as to provide an update on the facts and actions to date.
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Dear fellow retired players,
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We have been asked by many of our fellow retired National Football League (“NFL”) players to provide more information about what the Eller v. NFL lawsuit is meant to accomplish and how the lawsuit will help benefit all retired NFL players. What follows is our attempt to do so.
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On March 28, 2011 the national law firms of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP and Hausfeld, LLP, filed a class action on behalf of all retired NFL players against the NFL in federal court in the District of Minnesota to bring about wholesale improvements of the NFL player retirement system.
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This lawsuit came after the CBA negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA broke down, the Union decertified and the League subsequently locked the players out. The complaint seeks to do for retired players what the Reggie White class action lawsuit did for current players in the early 1990’s: create an organization and system whereby retired NFL players are able to advocate on their own behalf and therefore vastly improve the current landscape of the NFL retirement system. This class action – known as Eller et al., v. NFL – was consolidated with the class action on behalf of current players called Brady, et al vs. NFL. (Consolidated simply means that the cases are heard together and the NFL is better positioned to try and resolve both cases simultaneously – although the retired players are asking for and addressing different issues than the current players.)
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Recently, the largest collective group of representatives of various organizations for retired players or who have mass online audience met in Minneapolis. The group included representatives and/or members from the NFLPA, NFL Alumni, the Retired Players Association, Fourth & Goal, Gridiron Greats, Dignity after Football and DavePear.com/Independent Football Veterans. Most of the participants agreed to present the League with united proposals for changes in key areas affecting the well-being of retired players:

• (a)    pensions;
• (b)   disability benefits;
• (c)    medical benefits;
• (d)   medical monitoring; and
• (e)    vesting calculations.

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On April 4th, representatives of the National Football League acknowledged the need to provide “important improvements in retired player benefits.” They stated it was the “fair” and “right” thing to do in “respect” and “recognition” of their contributions to the game. The League said the retirees “voice” needs to be heard.
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On May 25th, the largest collective group of representatives of retired NFL Players ever assembled met a second time to reach a consensus on a series of united proposals for these needed improvements.
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The League has said that everyone needs to “focus on negotiations” because “there is a deal to be made.” We agree. The retirees therefore unanimously agreed to submit to the League a detailed framework for changes in retiree pensions, medical coverage and benefits, and disability programs. The framework will also include a component of medical monitoring for retirees that is designed to detect or prevent illness or disease at its earliest stages and provide for timely treatment.
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The retirees invite the League to be available for meetings beginning as early as Tuesday, May 31, to discuss this framework, exchange ideas and comments, and be best prepared to reach resolution when mediation formally resumes on June 7th and 8th in Minneapolis.
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As expressed in the April 4th letter from the League to the retirees, the League wished to hear the “voice” of the retirees. We are speaking. It’s now time for the League to listen.
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Any questions concerning this press release should be directed to Michael Hausfeld at Hausfeld LLP (202) 540-7200 or Daniel Mason, Mark Feinberg, or Shawn D. Stuckey at Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason (612) 336-9100.
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Retired NFL Players’ Representatives’ Unite!
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The largest collective group of representatives for retired NFL players ever assembled met yesterday in Minneapolis, Minnesota and agreed to unanimously support the class action litigation brought by retired NFL players against the League and its member clubs. That lawsuit is now pending before Judge Susan Nelson in federal court in Minneapolis.
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Among those present were:
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Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:

THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
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I was reading a Wall Street Journal article that circulated a couple of weeks ago and really had to take some time to digest it all.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: We received this update late last night from Brent while he’s still up in Boston this weekend undergoing some new MRI tests after the SLI Impact Awards this past Wednesday:

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We understand that this past Wednesday evening, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was given an Impact Award at the Sports Legacy Institute‘s Third Annual Impact Awards held in Boston MA. SLI has been involved with Boston University in the forensic study of the long-term effects of concussions on athletes’ brains. Many players have already pledged their brains to the Institute for study after they die. The award was to “recognize the NFL’s new advocacy and educational programs on youth sports concussions.” Of course, a year earlier, the NFL had donated $1 million to the Sports Legacy Institute Boston University School of Medicine’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

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Play & Pay

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KP Stoller, MD, FACHM

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In memory of Pat Tillman

There are certain similarities between the warriors who become football players and the warriors who serve the needs of the military. In a sense, football is organized war, whereas “real” war is disorganized. Of course, retired soldiers have the VA, an understaffed organization that makes the process for applying for benefits a labyrinth of complications because the more obstacles they can throw up at the retired soldier, the longer the VA can delay providing the benefits a retired soldier is entitled to, the less the VA has to pay out in the long term. Does this sound vaguely familiar to retired football players?

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Sometimes you just have to shake your head and laugh when a situation gets so ridiculous and absolutely everyone else can see it except the very people who should be able to see it. Yesterday, Dr. Ken Stoller submitted the first part of his series on HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) and how the treatment for George Visger and Wayne Hawkins has been progressing. When you read Part II today, you’ll realize that Dr. Stoller is now also getting a taste of the typical bureaucratic runaround that retired players have been encountering for years.

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Like George Visger, Brent Boyd recently had another near-miss with concussion-related issues over this past weekend. Many of you may have been wondering why you haven’t heard much from Brent recently. He’s had not one – but five! – close brushes with death since knee surgery in 2006. Brent is now quietly recovering at home from his latest close call. And still no full disability benefits for Brent from the NFL! We finally heard from him this morning:

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(The Official NFL Concussion Poster is on the left and on the right, what it might have looked like when Dr. No was still chair of the “Mild” Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. Click on the posters to enlarge for viewing and printing.)

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Reprinted in its entirety with permission from Evan Weiner:

Discarded NFL players are often forgotten in retirement

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