NFL Makes Major Grant for Brain Injury Research

October 10, 2012

NFL Makes Major Grant for Brain Injury Research

In any personal injury action that involves head trauma, the injury victim's attorney must work diligently to document the full extent and effects of the resulting brain injury. This often presents challenges, because the harm suffered is not always immediately apparent, and patient recovery times can vary substantially.

Medical research into the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injuries recently received a significant boost due to increased attention toward the long-term effects of concussions on professional athletes. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently announced the league's donation of $30 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund future brain injury research.

While the traditional practice in professional football was to take a few minutes to "clear the cobwebs" after a player got his "bell rung," neurologists have identified the potential for lingering adverse effects after even a single blow to the head. Recent studies involving returning soldiers injured by the concussive effects of roadside bombs have significantly advanced this area of medical research.

Personal injury lawyers have long realized that these circumstances produce similar effects to the trauma experienced by people who suffer head injuries in car accidents. While a severe impact to the head can cause obvious wounds and lasting damage, the major forces exerted on the body in a car wreck can cause harm to the brain even if the head is not struck.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, the director of the NIH's Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke said that the money comes with no strings attached. While the NIH announced no immediate plans for how the research will be directed, the focus will likely be on how brain injuries suffered under any circumstance can cause continuing problems throughout the injured person's life.

Consulting With Medical Experts to Assess Head Injuries

Full diagnosis of minor and traumatic head injuries for car accident and other personal injury victims ensures that they do not settle for damages that do not reflect the harm they may suffer years or decades down the line. While the NIH already spends over $80 million annually on head injury research, this new grant should allow researchers to continue to advance diagnostic tools and methods to make brain injury assessment as precise as possible.

A person who is diagnosed with a head injury after a car or truck accident may not feel the worst effects immediately, or might assume that seemingly minor symptoms will dissipate over time. But chronic headaches, mood swings, depression and cognitive deficits can have a lasting effect on a person's employability, self-sufficiency and other attributes.

Article provided by Kurzban Kurzban Weinger Tetzeli and Pratt P.A.
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