• 23
  • October
    2011

In a previous post, we shared with you that various NFL players are suing the league and helmet maker Riddell for alleged negligence. The plaintiffs claim that, as players whose health was at risk, they should have been better informed about the actual danger of concussions.

Such knowledge, they believe, could have prevented them from sustaining further brain injury that's left many of them permanently affected. A meeting took place last week involving lawmakers and medical professionals that focused not on league officials but safety equipment and the marketing that gets such equipment on the fields.

Some of the NFL-related personal injury lawsuits target Riddell. They claim that the product didn't do what it was meant to do: prevent head injuries. The recent hearing looked beyond that one company and at the entire sports safety equipment industry. What reportedly came out of the hearing seems to foreshadow both a change in sports equipment marketing and a revamp of the safety equipment design.

Medical professionals indicate that most sports equipment used by athletes at all levels does not provide the protection that most believe it should. Sources claim that much of the product marketing makes promises that the equipment doesn't live up to. And when it comes to the injuries that can be caused on the field, health advocates agree that marketing needs to be honest and not create a false sense of safety.

This is still just the beginning of what sounds like a revolution in sports safety equipment and brain injury prevention in the future. We will follow the issue and post updates with new developments.

Source

BusinessWeek: "Senators challenge sports equipment safety claims," Frederic J. Frommer, Oct. 20, 2011