Prior to the development of the HITRight sensor, impact data was gathered after the fact. Now, with HITRight, real time input can be accumulated for use in improving “proper tackling and blocking techniques.”

The HITRight sensor device is attached directly to the inside of the helmet. Whenever the audible alarm goes off, the player knows that “they are not in proper ‘heads up’ form.”

Says Jerome Tomlin, President of Helmet HALO Technologies, “Minimizing the number of concussions and spinal injuries incurred on the youth football field begins with coaching and reinforcement of correct tackling and blocking technique.”

Tomlin emphasizes that the use of the HITRight sensor “can be that personal and continual on-field coach for each player, whether it is running drills, playing a scrimmage or a game.”

This new teaching aid sells for $59.99, and can be purchased this summer at www.eastbay.com.

View this video for a demo of the HITRight sensor –

http://vimeo.com/65757077

On the opening day of the Sports Lawyers Association annual meeting last week, Dr. Kevin E. Crutchfield, the Director of the Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program at LifeBridge Health in Baltimore, MD, proved to be a very insightful panelist during the discussion, raising two interesting issues.

The first centered on the connection between neck injuries and concussions. Crutchfield said that neck injuries frequently go undiagnosed after an athlete has been diagnosed with suffering a concussion to the detriment of the patient. He almost seemed to imply that, invariably, an athlete who suffers a concussion has likely suffered a neck injury. And in some cases, the reverse may apply.

Second, Crutchfield said the athlete he sees the most are the “beatees” from the high school and college football programs, rather than the “beaters.” The elite athletes don’t suffer concussions with the same frequency as those practice players, who fill out the squads.

The session is “aimed at further engaging the scientific community,” according to the league. It will focus specifically on Challenge I, which offers up to a $10 million award for a proposal that would advance the understanding and diagnosis of traumatic brain injury.

Participants will include DR. Kevin Guskiewicz, Chair, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a member of the NFL Head, Neck & Spine Committee, and Mark A. Phillips, Chief Marketing Officer, GE Healthcare, Healthcare Systems. Interested participants may register by clicking:

http://www.ninesigma.com/ViewEmail.aspx?SendId=0ee36fbb-b55a-4431-8b41-e995cdbb8216

In March, GE and the NFL announced the Head Health Initiative, a four-year, $60 million partnership “to improve the safety of athletes, members of the military and society overall.”

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

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

“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.

Through HeadFirst, the urgent care provider will offer pre- and post-injury cognitive baseline testing, as well as followup care, “to help students and their families, and other adults, navigate the road to recovery and make a safe return to play, school or work after sustaining a concussion.”

HeadFirst, which has partnerships with recreational leagues, athletic trainers, coaches, parents, physicians and specialists, already administers the ImPACT baseline test free of charge to thousands of youth athletes. Its mission is “to assist youth-athletes in obtaining appropriate care and make a safe return to play.”

Righttime Medical Care Centers operates nine immediate medical care facilities in Anne Arundel, Howard and Montgomery counties.

The pilot program as proposed by Brownsville Democratic Rep. Eddie Lucio III focuses on “supplemental concussion insurance for boys who play football and girls who play soccer.”

Texas school districts currently offer insurance to students participating in sports. However, Lucio’s proposal “gives parents the option of buying extra insurance for ‘around $5.’” And would guard against “concussion-related symptoms (that) sometimes don’t appear until after students graduate and lose their district insurance.”

The house version of this bill passed on May 7th.

If approved by the Senate, the University Interscholastic League and the Texas Education Agency would administer the policies which would be underwritten by private companies. Both the UIL and the TEA would also select the districts to benefit from this pilot, which Lucio hopes is “a cross-section from around the state.”

First of all, “female patients are making up a larger percentage of the clinics’ overall concussion patient population, a percentage that continues to rise year to year.”

At the outset, it was thought that female athletes were “more likely than male athletes to report their concussion symptoms.” However, reports Dr. Cynthia Stein of Boston Children’s Hospital, “not many of us believe that is the reason any longer.”

Central to the theory of why female athlete concussions are on the rise revolves around the anatomy of the female neck. Usually thinner and less muscular than their male counterparts, girls appear to be more susceptible to the effects of “whiplash,” which often is to blame for a concussion.

In general, regarding what some might call a concussion plague in this country, several doctors also “thought the year-round schedules that millions of young athletes on travel and elite teams keep as they specialize in one sport was a contributing factor.”

You can read more about this increase in youth concussions at –

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/sports/anecdotal-evidence-offers-clues-to-youth-concussions.html?_r=1&

“What should matter are the actual relevant facts:

“1. The NFL had concussion data it hid from the players;

“2. There are dozens of dead and disabled former players all suffering from brain injuries attributable to football;

“3. The science on cause and effect is indisputable.

“4. Some of the scientists who conducted research on the issues for the NFL are so appalled that their work was hidden that they are coming forward on behalf of the players; and

“5. The NFL’s ‘defense’ is centered on the provisions of collective bargaining agreements – not science or the facts of the case.”