‘Is There Now a Feeding Frenzy of Concussion-Related Sports Suicides?’ … today at Beyond Chron
Boogaard: Alcohol And Oxycodone
May 21, 2011Author Muchnick Interviewed on Montreal Radio About Death of Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage
May 23, 2011We now know that hockey player Derek Boogaard’s recent mysterious death at 28 was caused by a fatal mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone. As soon as Boogaard died, his family donated his brain to the chronic traumatic encephalopathy research group in Boston, led by Dr. Robert Cantu and spearheaded by Harvard alum and retired World Wrestling Entertainment performer Chris Nowinski. The Boogaard tragedy followed close on the heels of the Boston group’s announcement that 50-year-old ex-football star Dave Duerson, who committed suicide in February, had CTE.
A cluster of recent sports suicides highlights the American concussion crisis, of course. But it also raises another tough question: After years of being asleep at the switch on the scope and magnitude of industrial brain injuries in our couch-potato entertainment, are the sports establishment and media now contributing to a feeding frenzy that is actually causing additional deaths rather than preventing them?
CONTINUED TODAY AT BEYOND CHRON, THE SAN FRANCISCO ONLINE NEWSPAPER:
1 Comment
Great story. You hit the nail on the head.
The researchers are scaring the heck out of folks. While I think it’s a very great thing that they have done, spotlighting the dangers of concussions.
But are they scaring some of these athletes, some of the service people who suffered concussions to suicide?
Yes, the media attention is great. It’s about time. When I played High school football, I didn’t even know the word concussion. Our coaches were oblivious. Your hamstring injury was given more attention than your brain.
Yet, the researchers fail to criticize the sports causing all these injuries or give any hope of treatment. They scare the heck out of everyone but offer no solutions.
It makes great copy but the ramifications are huge. I think in the long run, it will be good because people will think twice before sending children to play these dangerous sports.
But in the short run, they are doing both a lot of harm and a lot of good.
Thank you for making the point clear.