As first reported on this blog last month, Dr. Bennet Omalu has an important and comprehensive article in an upcoming issue of the journal Neurosurgery. A pre-publication electronic version of the article by Omalu and the team at the West Virginia Brain Injury Institute, “Emerging Histomorphologic Phenotypes of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy [CTE] in American Athletes,” is now available. The abstract is at http://journals.lww.com/neurosurgery/Abstract/publishahead/Emerging_Histomorphologic_Phenotypes_of_Chronic.99380.aspx. The full article can be downloaded by journal subscribers, or by non-subscribers for $40.
I purchased my own copy of the article, and the interpretations of it here are my own.
Some highlights:
Though not identified by name, “case five” of this article refers to Chris Benoit: “acute cerebral parenchymal contusions due to blunt force trauma of the head, as well as sparse to marked perivascular and intramural lymphocytic infiltration of many penetrating parenchymal vessels.” (This according to Mike Benoit, the father, who has read the article.)
That, in turn, leads me to attempt to set to rest the attacks on the Benoit findings by Jerry McDevitt, the lawyer for World Wrestling Entertainment. (The full political background of McDevitt’s innuendos was developed in my February 8 blog post, at http://wrestlingbabylon.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/exclusive-dr-bennet-omalu-barred-from-publishing-chris-benoit-brain-findings-in-neurosurgery-has-a-new-article-scheduled-for-the-journal%E2%80%99s-march-2011-issue/.)
I have had the practice of publishing in full McDevitt’s legal threats to me. I do so in the interest of transparency and fairness. I have said repeatedly that his wild ancillary accusations against Omalu of chain-of-custody abuse with Benoit’s brain are laughable smear tactics. One consequence is that Omalu, who is chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County, California, and widely used as an expert in cases in other jurisdictions, often finds himself subjected to attacks from opposition counsel that are based on out-of-context quotes from McDevitt’s December 16, 2010, letter to me and accompanying exhibits.
Irv Muchnick