Content area
Full Text
HEC Forum (2008) 20(4): 337355
DOI 10.1007/s10730-008-9079-0 Springer 2009
I. Introduction
John Doe works as a full-time clinical ethicist and has been called to consult on a case involving a professional football player. Over the past two years, the player has been diagnosed with a concussion four times. The most recent concussion occurred in a full-contact practice 24 hours ago. After reexamination at Dr. Does affiliated hospital 18 hours after suffering the concussion, the team physician announced his intention to clear the player to return to full-contact activity, including live game action. A nurse at the hospital, concerned for the players well-being, requested the consult. _____________________________________________________________
In December 2005, Andre Waters, a former Pro Bowl safety for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL), died of a self-inflicted shotgun blast to the head. He was 44-years-old. Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler, contacted Waterss family and requested permission to conduct an autopsy on the remnants of Waterss brain. Nowinski was and remains a vocal critic of the NFLs policies and practices on concussions. Eventually, Waterss sisters agreed and forensic neuropathologist Bennet Omalu conducted the autopsy. On January 18, 2007, the New York Times publicized Omalus finding: Waterss brain resembled that of an octogenarian Alzheimers patient (Schwarz, 2007a). Omalu also said that the brain damage he found was caused or expedited by successive concussions he suffered playing football (Schwarz, 2007a). In 1994, Waters told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he had lost count of the number of concussions he had suffered at 15.
_____________________________________________________________________________________Daniel Goldberg, J.D., Ph.D.(c)., Fellow, Chronic Disease Prevention & Control Center, Baylor College of Medicine, 1709 Dryden, Suite 1025, Houston, Texas 77030; email: [email protected].
Concussions, Professional Sports, and Conflicts of Interest: Why the National Football Leagues Current Policies are Bad for Its (Players) Health
Daniel S. Goldberg
338 HEC Forum (2008) 20(4): 337355
In June 2007 the NFL held what some termed a concussion summit to discuss the ethical, legal, and clinical issues relating to concussions, often referred to as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) (Keating, 2007a). The mTBI issue lurks in the background of the claims being pressed publicly by several retired NFL players that the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has virtually abandoned former players. These...