Is Workers Compensation Exclusive Remedy For NFL Concussions?

“The NFL is named as a defendant in 21 suits that allege the league negligently misled at least several hundred players about the dangers of concussions and other head injuries.  Riddell Inc., the league’s official helmet maker, also is named as a defendant in some of the suits.”

“The National Football League is expected to use the exclusive remedy defense in liability litigation filed by hundreds of former pro football players who suffer from concussion-related injuries and cognitive disorders.”

“Sports risk management consultant Herb Appenzeller of Appenzeller & Associates, Inc. in Summerfield, N.C., said it will be interesting to see whether courts interpret the NFL lawsuits as being a matter of negligence or workers comp law.”

Source: Business Insurance, January 30, 2012

Football: Concussion Risk Dangers Of Too Early Return

“The research team, headed by Dr. Barry Maron of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, analyzed information from the U.S. National Registry of Sudden Death in Young Athletes.”

“Football accounted for 57 percent of trauma-related sports deaths among young athletes, many of which could have been avoided if athletes with head injuries had been kept on the sidelines, according to researchers who sifted through 30 years of data.”

“Twelve percent of the 138 football deaths caused by head or neck injuries involved athletes who returned to the game after a concussion.  In some of these ‘second-impact syndrome’ deaths athletes were cleared for play despite symptoms from a previous head injury.”

“The study found that running back was the single most deadly position in football with 33 deaths in 30 years while 69 deaths occurred among defensive players.”

Source: Football Is Deadliest Sport For Young Athletes, Study Finds, Sporting Kid, Fall 2011, National Alliance For Youth Sports

Chartis Starts Educational Program On Sports Concussions

Chartis insurance has launched a new website to enhance public awareness on how to identify the warning signs of sports concussions and the proper response. Their website includes a number of good educational materials for coaches / athletic directors, parents / teachers, and athletes. The materials include fact sheet, clipboard sheet, tip sheet on baseline testing, tip sheet on signs and symptoms, concussion Q&A, etc.

According to Sadler Sports Insurance’s injury statistics, concussions account for about 5% of all reported injuries under youth tackle football Accident insurance. Due to the potentially catastrophic nature of concussions, this topic deserves long overdue attention.

Chartis is one of many Accident insurance carriers that Sadler Sports Insurance represents and makes available to it’s clients.

Information Link

PA School District Sued By Ex-Football Player Over Concussions

A Pennsylvania school district is being sued by a former student who received three concussions in games during the 2007 football season. Zachary Alt, 19, has to deal with symptoms, including memory problems and nausea, stemming from brain injuries after being told by the coaching staff to continue in games without being properly diagnosed. He was never removed from the games, but after the last concussion, he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury at a hospital.

Source: Insurance Journal, April 4, 2011.