The new and improved concussion thread

[LadyStanley]

Now on YouTube

 

[cbcwpg]

Supreme Court declines to hear Arland Bruce III's concussion case against CFL - 570 NEWS

The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it won’t hear Bruce’s concussion lawsuit against the CFL and former commissioner Mark Cohon. The decision came after two B.C. courts — the Supreme Court of British Columbia and British Columbia Court of Appeal — dismissed the suit, saying the Supreme Court previously ruled unionized employees must use labour arbitration and not the courts to resolve disputes that arise from their collective agreement.

 

[Llama19]

Crucial hearing in NHL concussion suit coming Friday

To quote:

"More than four years after the landmark case against the NHL was first filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, lawyers for the league and a group of disgruntled former players face off in court Friday (March 16) to argue over whether the litigation should proceed as a class action.

If judge Susan Nelson decides to approve the case as a class action – a decision that might not come for many months – some 5,000 former NHL players would automatically become plaintiffs, hiking the stakes for the NHL and raising the league’s potential financial liability.

[Lead attorney Charles] Zimmerman said the hearing and subsequent judgment would be a watershed moment in the highly polarizing issue of head trauma and professional sports.

“The NHL has argued there is no science that shows the disease CTE or any other brain degenerative disease is connected to hockey,” Zimmerman said. “This is the first time the court has been confronted with that question in any sport in a contested basis. Football and the NCAA have both settled lawsuits before judge issued rulings on this. That’s why this is so significant.”"

Source: www.tsn.ca/crucial-hearing-in-nhl-concussion-suit-coming-friday-1.1027896

 

[Llama19]

TED Talk: Can I have your brain? The quest for truth on concussions and CTE

Source (Video): www.ted.com/talks/chris_nowinski_can_i_have_your_brain_a_quest_for_truth_on_concussions_cte

 

[Llama19]

‘Dimmed landscape’ for NHL players after concussions, study reports

To quote:

"National Hockey League players who suffer brain injuries severe enough to go through the league’s concussion protocol experience a higher rate of professional and financial instability than other NHLers, a new study claims.

The peer-reviewed study examined 2,194 players who played in the NHL from the 2008-09 season through 2016-17 and concluded 198, or 64.1 per cent, of the 309 players who had been through the NHL’s concussion protocol in a game during that time frame did not play in the NHL three full seasons after their injury.

Two hundred and sixty-four, or 85 per cent of players, did not play in the NHL five full seasons after their trauma."

Source: www.tsn.ca/dimmed-landscape-for-nhl-players-after-concussions-study-reports-1.1033626

 

[LadyStanley]

Paywall, but you can read 5 for free/month

 

[Killion]

Paywall, but you can read 5 for free/month

Sure, but you still have Register to finish reading that article do you not? Some, many here, myself included loathe to be doing that & then wind up being spammed to death on our email accounts. I assume you have Registered so perhaps you'd like to provide us with a bullet point synopsis?..... Thats just a "tease" LS..... Looks like a well written article, worth reading but please.... we require links posted have free & unfettered access for our Members to read in full without the requisite hassles of Registrations & or paid Subscriptions.

 

[LadyStanley]

Try bugmenot? There's often credentials available.

Snapshot....

Judge considering ruling on class action and what the options mean. Some high profile plantiffs jumping in. Why NHL has been saying things they way they have with head trauma, NCDCs (think that's the acronym).

 

[Llama19]

NHL called the ‘new league of denial’ in concussion case hearing

To quote:

"On Tuesday, TSN obtained a 120-page transcript of the March 16 hearing that sheds more light about some of the tactics both sides are using to try to sway Nelson about the NHL’s duty of care to players and whether there’s a link between head hits and brain damage.

“The original league of denial, the NFL, has already admitted in front of Congress and under oath that there’s not only an association but a causal link between the two,” said Brian Penny, a lawyer for the players. “The new league of denial is sitting right here. They’re the defendants.”"

Source: www.tsn.ca/nhl-called-the-new-league-of-denial-in-concussion-case-hearing-1.1040918

 

[gstommylee]

I don't recall the NHL out right denying it as what the nfl did. Why aren't they suing the union as well?

 

[cbcwpg]

I don't recall the NHL out right denying it as what the nfl did. Why aren't they suing the union as well?

“The science regarding C.T.E., including on the asserted ‘link’ to concussions that you reference, remains nascent, particularly with respect to what causes C.T.E. and whether it can be diagnosed by specific clinical symptoms,” Mr. Bettman wrote.
He added: “The relationship between concussions and the asserted clinical symptoms of C.T.E. remains unknown.”

That's what you will hear from the NHL everytime they are asked about it.

 

[gstommylee]

“The science regarding C.T.E., including on the asserted ‘link’ to concussions that you reference, remains nascent, particularly with respect to what causes C.T.E. and whether it can be diagnosed by specific clinical symptoms,” Mr. Bettman wrote.
He added: “The relationship between concussions and the asserted clinical symptoms of C.T.E. remains unknown.”

That's what you will hear from the NHL everytime they are asked about it.

if the NHL is gulity if ignoring it then so is the NHLPA and yet the NHL is the ones being sued. Why does the NHLPA get a free pass since they can also try to change rules through CBA in order to protect players more and yet they don't when it comes to head injuries.

 

[LadyStanley]

There's the issue of the NHLPA not agreeing to certain rules WRT player safety (think grandfathering in visors -- but all players in AHL and ECHL must wear them).

There is room for NHLPA to be sued. We'll see how things go.

 

[gstommylee]

There's the issue of the NHLPA not agreeing to certain rules WRT player safety (think grandfathering in visors -- but all players in AHL and ECHL must wear them).

There is room for NHLPA to be sued. We'll see how things go.

WHL has well.

That's exactly what I mean. Why should the NHL be only one held responsible?

 

[Fenway]

Pass the

Billion-dollar NFL concussion settlement ‘on the brink of collapse’ - The Boston Globe

A rebellion is underway in the billion-dollar NFL concussion case, as lawyers representing thousands of former players are asking a federal judge to curb the league’s influence in the process and correct flaws that have allegedly threatened the settlement’s integrity and left many brain-injured players unpaid.

“The settlement is broken’’ and “on the brink of collapse,’’ said attorney Peter Shahriari, whose firm represents about 250 former players, in a document seeking the court’s intervention.

Shahriari, one of more than 15 lawyers in the case who are pushing for action, claims the league is evading its obligations to compensate brain-injured players by waging “a campaign to hide the truth about the dangers of the game’’ and by calling the former players and their doctors deceptive and fraudulent.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league, which settled the case last year for an estimated $1 billion, is responsibly fulfilling its commitment but is indeed concerned about fraud.

 

[LadyStanley]

How tech plays a role in concussion prevention, diagnosis, & treatment – Tech in Sports Ep. 36

Podcast looks at technology involved in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of concussions.

 

[Llama19]

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), releases its first ever fact sheet on Answering Questions about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

Source (PDF): www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/pdf/CDC-CTE-FactSheet-508.pdf

 

[LadyStanley]

No more head hits

 

[gstommylee]

No more head hits

The article implies NHL needs to get rid of fighting altogether and well I doubt the NHLPA would be for that.

There are already rules against head shots but again article wants zero no contact at the head which again means fighting is banned from hockey. I doubt NHL does that and i doubt NHLPA agrees to that.

 

[Killion]

..... "no more head hits".... who wouldnt agree with that so sure, however, you'll still have accidental head injuries, there simply is no way to completely eliminate it, what Dryden suggests a step in the right direction.... And your quite right tommy; Bettman has stated that the issue of fighting isnt even up for debate. That any conversation about Concussions that includes fighting & the elimination thereof is a conversation he wont have. That its a separate issue altogether, not related, not connected, no correlation, no cause & effect.

 

[gstommylee]

The thing is with fighting, the league shouldn't be held responsible if two opposing players decide to engage one another and start punching each other heads.

However, what they can do is go after the player for fighting a defenseless player who isn't in position to defend himself or doesn't want to fight.

 

[Killion]

The thing is with fighting, the league shouldn't be held responsible if two opposing players decide to engage one another and start punching each other heads.

However, what they can do is go after the player for fighting a defenseless player who isn't in position to defend himself or doesn't want to fight.

Pretty much what the Leagues claiming tommy.... that theyve done everything they can to try & curb fighting, that fighting actually is illegal, that its the players themselves that want it & try as they might, cant be stopped, totally outlawed, banned.... To suggest that, to alibi themselves in such a manner is beyond disingenuous. Since the rise of the professional game in the early 1900's fighting has not only been permitted but its encouraged, was actually mandatory regardless of whether you were a Star Player or a Journeyman. The league promoted it, marketed it, the vast majority of the public expected it, wanted it, demanded it be part of the game. Like Boxing, unlike Basketball, Football & Baseball, a Blood Sport.

As the leading league who's actions, who's rules & culture are then emulated from elite amateur through Junior & minor-pro... woven right into the very fabric of the game in North America yes, they are culpable. To suggest that the NHL isnt responsible, well, no, sorry, thats just not on. If they wanted to stop it they could & they would. Anyone engaging, instigator, cheap shots or sucker punch's, blind side hits, even dirty stickwork... just Ban them for life. If they did that, elite amateur, Junior & minor-pro would follow suit. Fighting alone however is not entirely responsible for the epidemic of concussions thats been scrambling players brains for decades with an increase over the past 30yrs. Its the way the games played, way its taught & Coached, the NHL adding rules that rather than provide for additional player safety actually increases the likelihood of head trauma. Equipment, better training, increased size & speed, the short shift game as Dryden mentions, all contributing factors.

 

[gstommylee]

That's the thing the NHLPA would never accept complete eliminating of fighting aka gets treated like other sports treat it ejection/suspension of players.

Heck its going to be impossible cause its just going to take a dirty hit or a player getting upset at another before gloves are dropped. And the league can't really stop stuff like that happening.

 

[Llama19]

Note: Radio interview link embedded in tweet.

 

[Llama19]

Bettman misleads on claims about CTE research, scientist says

To quote:

"National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman made misleading statements in a radio interview this week when he claimed there’s no evidence to link hockey to the brain-withering disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a Boston University researcher says.

During an interview with New York station WFAN on Tuesday, Bettman claimed there are no studies to prove a link between hockey and CTE.

In a joint statement sent to TSN Thursday, Dr. McKee and Concussion Legacy Foundation chief executive Chris Nowinski wrote that Bettman “misstates our conversation at the meeting.”

“However, it is misleading for Mr. Bettman to say we haven’t reached any conclusions. The evidence clearly supports that CTE is associated with ice hockey play. Since that 2012 meeting with Mr. Bettman, the VA-BU-CLF [Veterans Affairs-Boston University-Concussion Legacy Foundation] research team has identified CTE in more ice hockey players, including four amateur hockey players, not all of whom had significant fighting exposure. This provides evidence that normal ice hockey head impact exposure can be associated with CTE.”

Bettman has been steadfast in denying any link between hockey and CTE. Four months after a senior NFL executive testified in March 2016 that there was a link between football and degenerative brain disorders such as CTE, Bettman wrote a letter to U.S. senator Richard Blumenthal blaming the media for fanning fears about long-term brain diseases, and denying any link between CTE and hockey."

Source: www.tsn.ca/bettman-misleads-on-claims-about-cte-research-scientist-says-1.1055454