In N.F.L., Deeply Flawed Concussion Research and Ties to Big Tobacco - The New York Times

In a meticulously researched story by the New York Times  the National Footbal League is seen to have engaged in shallow and misleading concussion research going back to 1994.  So flawed is the data that even concussions to quarterback stars like Steve Young (49'rs) and Troy Aikman (Cowboys) were not included.  And their are links to the notorious Tobacco Institute and its secretive "Committee of Counsel".  That was a device to shield damaging evidence via attorney client privilege.  - gwc
In N.F.L., Deeply Flawed Concussion Research and Ties to Big Tobacco - The New York Times
By ALAN SCHWARZ, WALT BOGDANICH and JACQUELINE WILLIAMS

The National Football League was on the clock.

With several of its marquee players retiring early after a cascade of frightening concussions, the league formed a committee in 1994 that would ultimately issue a succession of research papers playing down the danger of head injuries. Amid criticism of the committee’s work, physicians brought in later to continue the research said the papers had relied on faulty analysis.

Now, an investigation by The New York Times has found that the N.F.L.’s concussion research was far more flawed than previously known.

For the last 13 years, the N.F.L. has stood by the research, which, the papers stated, was based on a full accounting of all concussions diagnosed by team physicians from 1996 through 2001. But confidential data obtained by The Times shows that more than 100 diagnosed concussions were omitted from the studies — including some severe injuries to stars like quarterbacks Steve Young and Troy Aikman. The committee then calculated the rates of concussions using the incomplete data, making them appear less frequent than they actually were.

After The Times asked the league about the missing diagnosed cases — more than 10 percent of the total — officials acknowledged that “the clubs were not required to submit their data and not every club did.” That should have been made clearer, the league said in a statement, adding that the missing cases were not part of an attempt “to alter or suppress the rate of concussions.”

One member of the concussion committee, Dr. Joseph Waeckerle, said he was unaware of the omissions. But he added: “If somebody made a human error or somebody assumed the data was absolutely correct and didn’t question it, well, we screwed up. If we found it wasn’t accurate and still used it, that’s not a screw-up; that’s a lie.”