Author Archives: Hackney Publications
Research Team Receives $6 Million from DARPA to Study TBI
Nanotechnology therapies, a revolutionary new method for “the treatment of traumatic brain injury and associated infections,” are getting a boost in research dollars to the tune of $6 million from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The multi-disciplinary research team awarded this money will be directed by Professor Michael J. Sailor, Ph.D., from the University of California San Diego.
A driving force behind the allocation of these dollars is data collected from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Battlefield casualties have resulted in skull injuries that make up 18 percent of all wounds, “according to the most recent estimate from the Joint Theater Trauma Registry.”
Clark C. Chen, M.D., Ph.D. of UC San Diego School of Medicine, and team member, elaborated on the nature of many head wounds, stating, “A major contributor to the mortality associated with a penetrating brain injury is the elevated risk of intracranial infection.” Chen went on to note “that projectiles drive contaminated foreign materials into neural tissue.”
The challenge confronting the medical profession in the case of treating projectile-related TBIs deals with the brain’s natural defense mechanism against infection, the physiological system known as the blood-brain barrier. When an infection takes hold, the blood-brain barrier makes it difficult to get antibiotics past it to treat the infection.
To learn more about treating TBI with this new technology, go to – http://bit.ly/14aNNcv
US Lacrosse Supports ‘Youth Sports Concussion Act’
Add US Lacrosse to the list of organizations now backing the proposed “Youth Sports Concussions Act.”
A majority of states have either already passed, or are in the process of introducing, legislation targeted at reducing youth sports concussions. Now, at the federal level, a bill sponsored by Congressman Tom Udall (D-N.M.) is making its way to the U.S. senate. The bill’s mandate seeks to empower “both the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to take stronger actions in guaranteeing equipment safety standards and claims by sporting goods manufacturers.”
Scheduled for public release by January 2014 is a National Academies report on sports-related concussions that, among its other findings, includes “product safety standards that equipment manufacturers will need to consider for voluntary adoption.” This new legislation is intended to extend the impact of the report’s findings.
A major concern of many sports organizations has been the accuracy of statements made by sporting goods manufacturers. Does the manufacturer accurately represent “the protective benefits and limitations of equipment to mitigate injury and risk” as stated in its marketing materials, advertising campaigns, and other disclaimers?
Said Ann Carpenetti at US Lacrosse, “We have invested extensively in the area of injury research and prevention in the sport of lacrosse, and having sport specific equipment that performs to meet a protective standard is critically important to ensure player safety on the field.”
The passage of this bill will allow “the Federal Trade Commission to take stronger action against manufacturers who make false and deceptive product safety claims.”
To learn more about US Lacrosse, go to – http://www.uslacrosse.org/Home.aspx
Another Ex-Player Joins NFL Concussion Litigation
Timothy Petersen, who played for the New England Patriots and the Washington Redskins in the 1970s and 1980s, has joined thousands of other players in claiming that the NFL consistently denied any relationship between symptoms of CTE, or other neurodegenerative disorders, and the repeated blows to the head they suffered in playing the game, despite mounting evidence of a connection.
“These denials and active refutation on the part of NFL agents, constituted fraud (unintentional or intentional) and concealment of information directly related to the Plaintiffs’ causes of action,” according to the complaint.
Representing Peterson in the May 10 filing was Massachusetts lawyer Anthony Tarricone of Kreindler & Kreindler and Philadelphia attorney Sol Weiss of Anapol Schwartz. Their client is seeking monetary damages in excess of $75,000, lost wages, punitive damages pursuant to state law, interest and other court relief.
Peterson alleged that he suffers from symptoms associated with multiple traumatic brain injury and CTE, including lesions on his brain, which have adversely impacted his memory.
His rationale for waiting to file was allegedly tied to the recent onset of symptoms.
“Because of the continuing tort of concealment and fraud carried out by the Defendant, and his ongoing difficulties with his memory, it was not until recently, that the Plaintiff had the ability or any reason to consider that repeated head impacts suffered during his career were the cause of his present symptoms and that his symptoms were caused by conduct, misconduct and omissions of the Defendant,” according to the complaint.
Posted in Football, Litigation, Professional
Tagged litigation, nfl, repeated blows, symptoms
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