Brain Injury Research Raises Questions About Liability

On behalf of Lovett Law Firm posted in Brain Injury on Saturday, September 7, 2013.

Our El Paso readers may be aware that the National Football League recently settled litigation involving 4,500 retired NFL players who accused the league of ignoring research that repeated concussions led to long-term brain damage. The settlement amounted to a total of $765 million.

The settlement in no way means, though, that the NFL admitted responsibility for brain-damaged former players. Whether or not the brain conditions of thousands of former football players were caused by the sport will likely take years to determine. More litigation is surely to come over the matter.

One interesting aspect to the research, and one that could have at least some degree of significance on any litigation, is that different people respond differently to brain injury. What happens to an individual’s brain after an injury depends on numerous factors, and the NFL obviously cannot be held responsible. In addition, it is difficult to know precisely how healthy or functional an individual’s brain was prior to the injury, as a baseline measurement.

Brain injury can occur in a number of settings of course. Professional sports are only one of them. Head trauma occurs all the time, however, in motor vehicle accidents. Sometimes these injuries can be quite serious, and can leave the victim unable to live in the same way as they did before.

How all of the accumulating brain science research could affect personal injury lawsuits involved brain trauma is unknown. It does suggest, though, that it could be a potential background issue in litigation once more is known.

Source: Los Angeles Times, “Concussion settlement highlights difficulty of proving brain damage,” Melissa Healy, August 29, 2013.