The National Football League (NFL) and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) plan to award Harvard University $100 million to conduct a study involving football players’ head injuries and other health problems that may occur during their NFL career. The research would include an extensive ten-year study into head injuries and concussion-related dementia, among other issues such as arthritis, chronic pain, depression, heart problems and diabetes. If you have suffered serious head trauma, be it from a sports injury, car accident, slip and fall, or another type of Oklahoma accident potentially caused by the negligence of another person or party, contact our qualified attorneys at AMA Law for legal help. Our lawyers have extensive experience protecting the legal rights of head injury victims throughout the state of Oklahoma, and will work hard to help you pursue the compensation you deserve for your injuries and medical bills.
MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS FOR ATHLETES
The proposed study comes amid renewed concern for the safety and mental health of football players who sustain head injuries or a traumatic brain injury (TBI) while playing. Previous research has focused primarily on the postmortem analysis of NFL players’ brains, but the Harvard study would take a holistic approach to analyzing a football player’s health, including the health of his brain, across his entire life. The proposed project is planned to include a larger study of 1,000 retired and current players across the United States, in varying football positions and with different health problems. From the larger group, a focus group of the 100 healthiest and 100 least healthy players will be selected to undergo more intensive testing with a focus on concussions and other major medical conditions commonly affecting football players.
BRAIN INJURIES MAY BE LINKED TO SUICIDES
While head injuries among football players and other athletes involved in high-impact sports have always been a concern, the suicides of many high-profile NFL players in recent years have brought renewed attention to the risk of brain trauma from sports injuries. In fact, more than 2,200 NFL players have filed 80 lawsuits alleging that the NFL failed to adequately inform them of the risk of devastating head injuries and brain trauma – including the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – involved in playing the sport. According to a recent study, another serious concern for NFL players, in addition to CTE, is second impact syndrome (SIS), the devastating and possibly deadly effects of a second blow to the head following an initial head injury.
CONTACT OUR EXPERIENCED ATTORNEYS FOR HELP
Concerns about the adverse effects of serious head injuries don’t involve NFL players exclusively. In fact, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) announced earlier this month its plan to launch an extensive study involving sports-related concussions among younger players, through the age of 19. If you or a loved one has sustained a major head injury or traumatic brain injury, which you believe to be caused by another person’s negligence, consult our knowledgeable lawyers at AMA Law to explore your compensation options. You may have grounds to file a personal injury lawsuit against the person or party you believe to be responsible for your injuries, in order to seek fair and timely reimbursement for the harm you have experienced. With our skilled attorneys on your side, you can pursue the compensation you deserve and protect yourself and your family from further harm.