A four year long lawsuit by 318 former National Hockey League (NHL) players reached a settlement in November 2018. The settlement will reportedly provide the settling players with free neuropsychological tests, up to $75,000 for treatment, and up to $20,000 in cash per player.  A “Common Good Fund” will also be established to assist other players in need. The Washington Post quoted this from the league: “The NHL does not acknowledge any liability for any of Plaintiffs’ claims in these cases,” the league said in a statement. “However, the parties agree that the settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution and that it is in the parties’ respective best interests to receive the benefits of the settlement and to avoid the burden, risk and expense of further litigation.”  Unlike the NFL settlement, this was not a class action settlement.  The lawsuit consisted of just 146 plaintiffs, along with another 172 who retained counsel.  The settlement has a 75 day “opt-in” period, and requires judicial approval.

If you weren’t worried about concussions before,  “Concussion Protocol“, directed by Josh Begley of The Intercept and produced by Laura Poitras should do it for you.  The masterful film contains footage of each concussion reported during the 2017-2018 NFL season. 281 reported concussions – the most reported in the past 6 years. The NFL Concussion Settlement is lacking in many ways, but hopefully the one good thing that will come out of this lawsuit is more attention paid to concussions at every level of play – from Pop Warner to the NFL, and every sport from football, hockey, baseball, soccer, lacrosse.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been identified in 96% of the deceased NFL players that have been examined by researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University. Signs of CTE can be identified in living persons using brain scans, but as yet the disease can only be positively identified posthumously. Researchers believe that CTE comes from repetitive trauma to the head.  The recent data from the research might be skewed since the study uses brains that have been donated for testing, and many of the individuals who have made provisions for posthumous testing have done so because they suspected CTE. However, in an interview with Frontline, Dr. Ann McKee, Chief of Neuropathology with the VA Boston Healthcare System said the latest numbers were  “remarkably consistent” with past research suggesting a link between football and CTE.

The bottom line is this:  CTE is real and it is seen at high rate in the brain tissue of athletes who were subjected to repeated head trauma. And in a cruel twist, the NFL Concussion Settlement will provide no awards for players who die from CTE after the settlement date.