Well, the NFL and the NFLPA and everyone else in between are spinning out a lot of press before Super Bowl weekend so we may as well also post up a couple of new videos to keep things balanced. . Bob Costas had Dr. Daniel Amen as a guest on his Costas Tonight Super Bowl Edition Thursday night. Dr. Amen talked about his clinical brain study of 135 retired football studies and what he learned about the long-term effects of brain injuries. (Dr. Amen’s segment starts at the 44-minute mark.) Bob Costas notes that they also invited the NFL to send in one of their experts but got no response.(You can read our post about the Amen Study from 2010 by clicking HERE.)This episode also featured several retired players including Tony Dorsett and Rodney Harrison, all discussing their own experiences and fears about concussions. And the tide keeps turning… . continue reading »
We started the second day of our IFV Conference last April in Las Vegas at the South Point with a panel discussing some of the latest information and studies on concussions, brain damage and current state-of-the-art treatments. Retired 49′er George Visger talks about his personal journey after football to recover some of his lost memory after 9 brain surgeries and years of living out of notebooks to help him remember his daily routines. Dr. William Duncan talks about the latest information on hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT and the current efforts to advance legislation for HBOT in Washington on behalf of veterans and the general public. You can follow along Bill Duncan’s presentation by opening up his PowerPoint presentation while playing the video in the background. (We’ve also included a copy of George Visger’s slideshow below Bill Duncan’s presentation.) .
For a normally quiet time in the off-season, there’s a lot going on. Concussion lawsuits continue to be filed and the latest count indicates there may be over 3,000 retired football players who have filed suits against the NFL to date. We also understand that there may be a possible Statute of Limitation deadline coming up shortly and strongly urge that you get signed up with one of the firms soon if you haven’t done so already. . Let’s start with a Washington Post article on the concussion lawsuits that featured Dr. Daniel Amen: .
NFL concussions lawsuits aim to improve the damaged brain
Big-time pollen alerts across the country! Jennifer and her daughter are recovering from severe allergies this week, so we’re going ahead and posting up the PowerPoints from some of the discussions at our Second Independent Football Veterans Conference. Sorry for the delays in getting everything posted quickly – we thank everyone for their patience and understand how many of you who couldn’t attend are anxiously awaiting the videos so you can catch up on what you missed. All our best to Jennifer and her daughter for a speedy recovery! . Without a doubt, the most requested videos and Powerpoints have certainly been for our panel on concussions and the lawsuits filed against the NFL and Riddell. Jason Luckasevic from Goldberg Persky White filed one of the first concussion lawsuits on behalf of retired football players. To date, his firm is also one of the few to include Riddell the helmet manufacturer – “Official Helmet of the NFL” – as a responsible party. Richard Lewis from Hausfeld LLP joined Jason on the panel last Saturday morning to present his firm’s decisions leading up to filing their concussion suit. . Please keep two things in mind: There are many capable and qualified attorneys representing plaintiffs in the concussion litigation. Please speak to those you choose to make sure your potential claim is evaluated promptly. The other issue discussed at the Conference was a potential statute of limitation specifically related to this round of concussion lawsuits. This means you may have to sign up with a representative firm soon before the filing period expires. More on this shortly from one of the attorneys involved in this suit. . Feel free to call Jason or Rich directly with any questions you may have regarding your own concussion concerns – each of them has agreed to make themselves available to talk to our readers: . Jason Luckasevic • Goldberg Persky White (412) 338-9460 . Richard Lewis • Hausfeld LLP (202) 540-7200 . You can view each slideshow full screen by clicking on the FullScreen icon in the lower right corner of each slide screen (press ESC to close the slideshow).
Dr. Daniel Amen introduces and summarizes his recent breakthrough study of nearly 100 retired NFL football players’ brains using SPECT scans at his Amen Clinics. This summary chronicles some of the time line and history of how the study came about and the subsequent negative reaction from the NFL. Scientific evidence continues to mount for the case linking brain concussions to long-term brain damage and we can only hope that brain health finally gains a prominent place in all professional sports. . The good news? Dr. Amen and his Director of Research, Dr. Kristen Willeumier, have also been working proactively to develop a tailored regimen of supplements and healthier choices to improve brain function for each of their study participants. And results so far have been very positive.
. We’ve loaded this summary up on Scribd for easier access and viewing. (Click on the FULL SCREEN button to enlarge it for easier navigation – hit the ESC key to close. You can also click the DOWNLOAD button to save a PDF copy for printing and reading.) .continue reading »
Here are some pictures from my second visit to the Amen Clinic this past December. I wanted to let some of the other guys see the entire process is actually painless and simple.
Dr. Daniel Amen has just allowed us to post a great interview in which he discusses his interest in studying the current debate and issues, how his clinic is studying the problem, as well as some of the new findings that have started to come out of these ongoing studies. (The entire interview is only 13:00 minutes long and covers a lot of topics so please take a few minutes to watch this for yourself and your loved ones.)
Last Thursday, I made the trip down to the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach for my scheduled brain scan. Dr. Kristen Willeumier was there to greet me and helped me to understand the entire process involved with my brain scan. They did some tests on mental acuity and Dr. Amen happened to be at his main clinic between road trips for his current book tour and managed to take some time to meet personally with me as well. The entire experience was easy and relaxed and I was back on a plane heading home to Seattle that evening.
We’ve been following the story of a young local junior high school athlete who got hit hard in a football game. 16-year old Zachery Lystedt was sent back in twice after getting what turned out to be a major concussion and he collapsed minutes after the game was finished. As a result of Zach’s injury, Washington State passed one of the strongest pieces of legislation to protect minors from additional injury following severe head trauma.Read our earlier post about Zachery and the new Washington law by clicking HERE.
