Not Just the NFL: Compensation, Litigation, and Public Health in Concussion Cases
Florida International University Law Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2012
17 Pages Posted: 16 May 2013
Date Written: 2012
Abstract
This article examines the recent attention given to traumatic head injury in the National Football League from a public health perspective. It notes that injuries are prevalent in many sports (not just football), and argues that the goal should be to design interventions that reduce the incidence and severity of such injuries. The article explores and evaluates some of the measures that have been taken throughout football (from the NFL down through youth leagues) to make the sport safer, and notes how these steps also affect other sports and injuries to other parts of the body. Since football and other dangerous sports are unlikely to be eliminated, harm reduction should be the goal. Taken together, these measures are likely to be successful by that measure.
The article concludes with some observations about the use and limitations of tort claims and compensation funds to redress the harms caused by participation in dangerous sports such as football.
Keywords: head injury, football, concussions, health law, liability, torts, tort law, NFL, National Football League
JEL Classification: K13
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation