Making Sport Safe Again

December 15, 2016, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Sports has long carried with it an attitude of bravado. Attitudes belittling injury and extolling ‘manning up’ and ‘playing through the pain’ are very much alive and well. How often do we hear about players whose injuries have been stitched up and then shot full of anesthetic to allow them to keep playing?

Skiers have been known to race with highly injured knees in Olympic and World Cup competition. A baseball pitcher attempted to pitch in the World Series with a fresh incision in his hand, and then tried to hide the flowing blood from the wound. Hockey players, and football players are known to go off the playing surface and get stitched up only to return to the game.

We can argue that these are adults, making educated decisions about their own health, and this may be true. We must draw the line, however, at the issue of concussion and informed consent. Governor General David Johnston recently published an article in the Globe and Mail about his concussion history and the need to make sport safe again.

He had had three concussions at the age of 15, playing football and hockey, and his doctor told him to give up his pride and wear a helmet and get laughed at or give up hockey. He swallowed his pride and wore the helmet. In his own words, “The laughter on the ice didn’t last long, and I never got my “bell rung” again.”. He admits he was lucky.

Concussion in sport is a serious issue, the medical evidence supports the damage repeated concussion does to the brain. There are short and long term impacts and we all must take them seriously. The Governor General argues that it is our responsibility to ensure sports are play safely.

Education programmes have been launched in minor sporting leagues and association with stringent guidelines, but without a clear diagnostic tool available at the bench there is always room for error, deception by players, or pressure to keep playing coming from coaches and team mates. Researchers are working hard to develop these tests.

There is a lot of room for improvement in the professional leagues as well. The CFL has been widely criticized for Commissioner Orridge’s concussion comments. The Toronto Star reported that at his last press conference.

He was asked, what is the league’s position on a link between the early onset of degenerative brain diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), dementia and Alzheimer’s — something the NFL has acknowledged in its class-action settlement with former players — and football?

“It’s still a matter of debate and discourse as to what the linkage may be, but we are connected with the medical and scientific community and we’re constantly talking to them about, you know, their findings,” he said. “So what is the league’s position on that, then?” came the follow-up

“The league’s position is that there is no conclusive evidence at this point,” said Orridge. “And as I said, we continue to work with them and monitor the progress that they’re making in terms of getting a greater understanding of whether or not there is a linkage.”

Concussion is a serious medical condition, and the link between it and long term brain damage has been accepted widely by other professional sports leagues and the medical community.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the leading causes for concussion are:

1. Slips and falls - 40.5%
2. Unknown – 19%
3. Direct strike – 15.5%
4. Car Crash – 14.3%
5. Assault – 10.7%
6. 55% of TBI in children under 14 were casued by falls
7. More than 81% of concussion in seniors was caused by falls.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

The opinions expressed here, while intended to provide useful information, should not be interpreted as legal recommendations or advice.