by Publisher | Aug 15, 2011 | News Coverage
Back in January, Florida was ahead of the curve on an important national issue. Yes, you read that right.
That’s when a bill designed to protect youth athletes from concussion passed the Florida House. The new law would require kids who had suffered a suspect head injury to be taken out of play pending clearance from a medical professional. The bill had a sympathetic ambassador in a local high school student– Ransom Everglade’s David Goldstein– who had been crippled for months by headaches stemming from multiple concussions. Goldstein had even successfully led fund-raisers to pay for pricey concussion tests for every public school in the county.
So who can argue with a bill that makes young students safe from serious injury or death?Meet state senator Dennis Jones, Republican from Treasure Island.
Jones is a working chiropractor. He insisted on amending the bill, when it hit the senate floor, to include chiropractors among the listed “medical professionals”. The House refused to vote on the amended bill, and it died on the House floor.
Sen. Anitere Flores (R-Miami), who introduced the bill, says she is “disappointed that this important piece of legislation failed due to the political in-fighting between medical doctors and other medical professionals. We now have one more year where children may be told to ‘walk it off’ and go back to play, putting their health at risk,” she adds. “This is unacceptable.”
“No bill is better than a bad bill,” Jones tells Riptide unapologetically. “As chiropractors, we’ve been treating head injuries since 1931. The symptoms of a concussion are not that difficult to diagnose.”
After working with colleagues in Village Voice Media in a national investigation of concussions in youth sports– which will be published in papers across the chain this week– it’s impossible not to dispute that last claim. Throughout the country, the treatment of head trauma in young athletes has been defined by ignorance.
In New Jersey, high school football player Ryne Dougherty died after being sent out to play despite having apparently not recovered from a previous concussion. His family’s lawyer claims that a school trainer ignored a medical test in which Dougherty complained of “fogginess” and struggled with simple memory and cognitive functions.
The same sort of tragic stories– where student athletes played through head trauma, making themselves more vulnerable to catastrophic damage– have played out in most every city in America. No matter what Sen. Jones claims, the understanding of concussions is still an evolving science.
What’s clear is the peril isn’t limited to professional athletes who have arguably struck a Faustian bargain with the risk.
Florida is now lagging behind 28 states that have passed youth concussion bills. Sen. Flores promises to file the failed bill again in the next legislature.
We’ll see if Jones kills it again because it doesn’t pay proper respect to chiropractors.
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
by Publisher | Jun 9, 2011 | Print Coverage
Pop quiz.
You’re a legislator, and you’ve got a chance to vote on a bill that would protect kids from deadly brain injuries at no additional cost to the state.
If passed, the bill would make sure that student athletes who might have concussions get checked out by a doctor before returning to play.That way, so goes the bill’s logic, kids won’t suffer from the outcome of untreated concussions, which include depression, diminished intelligence — even suicide.
The bill would also make sure that parents sign a waiver showing that they understand the serious health risks associated with concussions, so that suspected cases get diagnosed and properly treated. Also, the state-sanctioned athletic associations would be supportive of the bill, even agreeing to voluntarily enact the anti-concussion policies. So, all things considered, would you support that measure, the Youth Athletes bill?
As you’ve probably come to expect with Sunshine State politics, the answer isn’t the simple “yes” that it should be.
In late April, Rep. Ronald “Doc” Renuart (R-Ponte Vedra Beach) pitched this basic idea to the state House of Representatives — and it passed unanimously. When it got to the state Senate, however, an amendment process began which would hamstring the bill’s progress until its eventual death.
What this means: The next chance to protect student athletes really won’t come up again until the next legislative session — in January.
The bill’s failure has not been widely discussed, so the Pulp decided to figure out what exactly happened.
Here’s what went down. When the bill hit the Senate floor, Sen. Dennis Jones (R-Seminole) — who is a chiropractor — had added an amendment that would also allow chiropractors to make the call whether a student can return to a game. This version of the bill passed, but had to get another OK from the House before making its way to the governor for final approval — because of the last-minute amendment.
Meanwhile, the legislative session was quickly drawing to a close.
The result, according to Renuart: “By the time we tried to make some compromising language, the session went out.”
Renuart, an osteopathic physician and military reservist who recently served as a field surgeon in Iraq, told the Pulp that chiropractors would have been included in the House’s amended version. He said that involved parties — parents, athletes, coaches — could “consult with a chiropractor,” but that a physician still needed to be present to give the player a clean bill of health.
Renuart said that he doesn’t intend to shaft chiropractors. He just thinks that chiropractors don’t have the “experience and training to treat internal brain injuries” and shouldn’t have the final say.
“This was politically motivated,” he said. “The chiropractor would rather see the bill die than not see chiropractors able to do this.”
Jones disagrees.
“The House sponsor was unwilling to accept amendments to make this a fair bill, so as a result, the bill died,” he told the Pulp.
Chiropractors, Jones said, are often better versed in dealing with brain trauma than “a gastroenterologist or a dermatologist that maybe 10 years ago did their hospital rounds.”
Jones counters, in fact, that people with possible concussions should “go to the chiropractors first because we are the ones who see the most head injuries other than an E.R. doctor.”
Rep. Steven Perman (D-Boca Raton), who is also a chiropractor but did vote for the bill, said that he was “disappointed” and “frankly offended” on behalf of chiropractors.
“At the end of it, I said ‘wow,'” he told the Pulp. “There’s important things in this bill, and at the end of the day, we want the athletes to be safe. I thought that it was appropriate, despite my misgivings, to take the high road and support the bill.”
Renuart said that he might reintroduce the bill. Jones said that he’s thinking of submitting a similar measure.
“I could file one in the Senate just as easy, and I’d consider doing that,” he said.
by Publisher | Mar 30, 2011 | TV Coverage
After his own brain injury, a South Florida student works to get sideline concussion screening for all of Miami-Dade County.
by Publisher | Mar 28, 2011 | Print Coverage
March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month, and I am among the 140,000 high school athletes who suffer a sports-related concussion each year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Last year, I had a head-to-head collision with another soccer player. Although it was my third concussion playing soccer in four years, I didn’t realize the risks of playing on. This time, my head really hurt, even though I did not fall or lose consciousness. As badly as I felt, it was an important game, so I played on for my team.
For more than three months, I had constant headaches so painful that every day I had to sleep a couple of periods at the school nurse’s office. My doctors told me to never play soccer again, which was crushing.
I was depressed and unable to participate in regular social activities. Luckily, I eventually found help at the University of Miami’s and Miami Project to Cure Paralysis’ Sports Medicine Concussion Clinic.
My symptoms finally went away, and gradually I returned to the sport I love. Today, I am a smarter player and wear a rugby helmet. I know the signs of concussion, and what to do. But I learned the hard way, and it didn’t have to be that way.
Last month I visited our state Capitol to talk about my experience in hopes of helping other student athletes avoid concussions and the problems I faced. Sen. Anitere Flores of Miami and Rep. Ronald Renuart of Ponte Vedra Beach are sponsoring bills to protect young athletes (HB301, SB730).
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) would be required to adopt policies informing youth athletes and parents of the nature and risk of head injuries. Athletes also would need a parental consent form before practicing or competing. Players sustaining a suspected head injury would be immediately suspended from play until receiving clearance from a qualified medical professional.
The bill is supported by the Brain Injury Association of Florida, National Football League, FHSAA, and a statewide Sports Concussion Task Force of medical experts, athletic officials and health care providers. Florida would be the tenth state to pass this needed legislation.
Schools, coaches, parents and players must be educated on head injuries. More than 40 percent of high school athletes return to play before they are fully recovered.
Brain injury has been called the “silent epidemic” because so few people know what a serious health problem it is in this country.
Locally, public awareness is growing. Recently, all of the Miami-Dade public school athletic directors, trainers and PE teachers were trained on concussions. I am grateful to Cheryl Golden, Instructional Supervisor, and the Miami-Dade School Board for addressing the needs of our student athletes.
My schoolmates at Ransom Everglades raised donations so that the Kidz Neuroscience Center of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis can provide education and concussion support through ImPACT testing at the Miami-Dade County Public High Schools.
Please join me in contacting legislators to support the concussion legislation. It is part of the Brain Injury Association of Florida’s statewide Mind Your Brain Campaign . . . Because It Matters to raise public awareness about traumatic brain injury and sports concussion. The Association recently launched a comprehensive Resource & Support Center at www.byyourside.org with information on community-based services. If the center had been in place when I got hurt, my family and I might have found the expert help I needed a lot sooner.
I know first-hand that concussion education, prevention and treatment really do matter. It can mean the difference between staying out for just a game or being out of play forever with problems that affect your overall quality of life.
Let’s make sure that every youth athlete in Florida plays it safe — so we all will be winners.
David Goldstein, 16, is a sophomore at Ransom Everglades High School in Miami.
by Publisher | Mar 25, 2011 | News Coverage, Print Coverage
March 25, 2011|By Patrick Gorman | Guest columnist
March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month, so it was welcome news recently when doctors reported the remarkable progress Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords continues to make after being shot in the head during a public event barely two months ago.
“Gabby,” as the world now knows her, can talk in short sentences and walk with assistance. She is upbeat and focused on getting better, doctors said this month.
Even as well-wishers rejoiced at this hopeful outlook, news headlines somberly noted the passing of Dave Duerson, 50, a former NFL star defensive back who had retired to Florida. Duerson took his life last month, leaving a request to examine his brain tissue for evidence of a degenerative disease that has been linked to ex-football players who repeatedly suffered head injuries during their pro careers.
While these recent cases grabbed headlines because of the public figures involved, traumatic brain injury (TBI) can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Senior citizens who slip and fall, youth athletes bumping heads, returning soldiers injured in battle, car accident victims — millions of ordinary Americans have suffered from TBI. TBI has been called the silent epidemic because few Americans know its serious health risks or enormous treatment costs totaling billions of dollars annually.
In Florida, public awareness is growing on several fronts. The Brain Injury Association of Florida recently unveiled a statewide campaign highlighting the 100,000 Floridians who sustain brain injuries each year. As part of the campaign, the association launched Florida’s first Traumatic Brain Injury Resource & Support Center, providing one-stop access to a vast network of information, services, education and advocacy through a Web-based portal (byyourside.org) and a toll-free helpline (800-992-3442).
The nonprofit association, founded in 1985 by the mother of a TBI survivor, also has joined with the NFL and a statewide Sports Concussion Task Force to support bills in the Florida Legislature protecting youth athletes who sustain a concussion from returning to play prematurely.
More can be done. Florida could expand services to TBI survivors and families, lower costs and improve patient self-sufficiency by adopting a nationally recognized privatization model. It combines Web-based and telephone assistance for mild TBI cases with more intensive family support services for serious injuries.
States like Minnesota and Indiana report impressive results, returning more than half of TBI survivors to work or school within one year of their injuries. Vocational rehabilitation referrals grew by nearly one-third, and work-force productivity of TBI survivors increased by more than $31 million a year.
Under the state of Florida’s program structure, TBI survivors aren’t being adequately served or documented. For example, in 2009, only a fifth of the 19,000 TBI hospital admissions were tracked by the state’s central registry with just more than 1,000 served. That includes 330 Medicaid cases costing taxpayers more than $30,000 per patient.
Brain Injury Association contracts with the state to provide education, support and referral assistance to TBI survivors and their families. However, the state prevents access to its central registry and provides only a monthly list of closed cases of TBI survivors, many still needing assistance.
If Florida were to adopt a TBI privatization model, potential benefits include: expansion of services to TBI survivors and families; lower costs to the state and improvement in patient self-sufficiency; reduced state office costs by locating privatized workers in hospital trauma centers, giving TBI patients a direct pipeline to services; and increased probability of getting TBI survivors back to work sooner and off government assistance by focusing on symptom management.
At a minimum, Florida’s families would be better served if Florida maintained one registry for all TBI injuries and immediately provided case information to qualified TBI service providers. Early intervention prevents complications that could result in mild brain injuries getting worse. Let’s ensure that every TBI survivor gets prompt, professional assistance because it really does matter for all of us.
Patrick Gorman is a licensed psychologist in Winter Park and is chairman of the board for the Brain Injury Association of Florida.
by Publisher | Mar 4, 2011 | News Coverage, TV Coverage
MIAMI (WSVN) — A South Florida student athlete is getting to work to prevent and treat concussions in Miami-Dade County high schools.
Sixteen-year-old David Goldstein knows how devastating a concussion can be. Goldstein is a Ransom Everglades High School sophomore and has spent months living a nightmare after suffering a serious concussion while playing soccer.
After months of research and work, about 120 athletic directors from across the Miami-Dade school district gathered at the Lois Pope Life Center in Miami Thursday to learn the proper ways to treat concussions. “It’s really important to get the word out to the families so they understand,” said Marc Buoniconti of the Miami Life Project to Cure Paralysis, “and being involved today with all these athletic directors, it really helps a great deal because know we can understand the short term and long term impacts of concussions.”
Goldstein got to work after suffering his concussion and has helped raise over $8,000 at Ransom Everglades to help fund testing for student athletes all over Miami-Dade County. “You have this super vision of concussions in the NFL and in pro sports, in collage sports. You don’t see that at the high school level where most of the concussions in this country occur, so it seems logical to me to do what I can to help the kids,” said Goldstein.
Daniel Cuadra is the Athletic Director at Ronald Reagan Senior High in Doral. He said he has seen the consequences a concussion can have on a student athlete. “I have definitely seen, especially during kick off, some athletes get hit pretty hard, and I’m looking at them and, wow, they can’t even return to play, and I send them to a neurologist,” said Cuadra.
Goldstein’s work is far from over. “I’ve been working on the concussion legislation that will be going through Florida congress later this year. People in Tallahassee are supporting me, my friends, my school. It’s all good,” he said.
(Copyright 2011 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
