Matt Chaney: Dr. Cantu’s Latest Catastrophic Injury Report Concusses Credibility

Dr. Robert Cantu and colleagues have released the latest edition of their National Collegiate Athletic Association annual reports on catastrophic football injuries. See http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/FBCATReport2011.pdf.

It is woefully incomplete, critic Matt Chaney argues, and I agree. He says appropriate adjectives include “cavalier, deceptive, inexplicable, irresponsible, inaccurate, ignorant, sophomoric, silly, sleazy.”

Here’s the Cliff Notes version of Chaney’s review:

Mueller-Cantu have … a mere 44 cases. (Do these people even care about their propoganda’s effect on millions ofparents and kids who trust their word?) …

The breakdown of my own “catastrophic” 2011 football survivors, posted February 12, includes two adults severely injured by football contact on sidelines, for a total of 111 candidates for Mueller-Cantu to allegedly have “investigated,” per Cantu’s email reply to me in receipt of these cases:

*8 survivors of cardiac arrest or condition.

*1 survivor of heart attack.

*17 survivors of brain bleeding requiring surgery, with about half of them still in recovery.

*2 survivors of vessel rupture and stroke requiring surgery, including 1 yet in recovery.

*4 survivors of brain bleeding requiring hospitalization without surgery, including at least 1 yet in recovery.

*1 survivor of brain seizure requiring surgery, caused by a congenital artery tangle known as AVM, with rehabilitation underway.

*2 survivors of head and/or neck injury causing nerve damage.

*1 survivor of skull fracture.

*5 additional survivors of severe or catastrophic head injury or condition.

*20 spinal cases requiring surgery, largely for stabilizing vertebral fractures, including at least 6 victims experiencing continuing paralysis for insult of the spinal-cord nerve bundle.

*49 spinal injuries of no paralysis that did not require surgery, with large majority of cases involving fracturing of vertebral column.

*1 survivor of staph infection in spinal column, no paralysis.

Oh, yeah, and how about this annual claim by our “researchers,” on p.12 in new post:

“Football catastrophic injuries may never be totally eliminated, but continued research has resulted in rule changes, equipment standards, improved medical care both on and off the playing field, and changes in teaching the fundamental techniques of the game…these reports have been responsible for the reduction of football fatalities and catastrophic injuries.”

I plan to continue handing off my megaphone to Chaney from time to time so he can tell us what he really thinks.

Irv Muchnick