USA TODAY International Edition
DOCTOR FIGHTS BACK ON REPORT
Ellenbogen says he didn’t try to steer grant money
A pediatric neurosurgeon criticized in a congressional report Monday vehemently denied attempting to influence the selection process for a research grant on the NFL’s behalf and says no one from Congress contacted him before the report’s release.
Richard Ellenbogen, co- chairman of the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee, said his two phone calls with the director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Walter Koroshetz, were about Ellenbogen’s belief in the need for a longitudinal study on the effects of concussion and that he never told Koroshetz not to give a $ 16 million grant to researchers at Boston University instead.
“We know there are long- term risks of traumatic brain injury, and we need to know the incidence and prevalence,” Ellenbogen told USA TODAY Sports. “Is it 1 in a million or is it 100 in a million? That was the entire thing that got blown up.
“I never talked to Congress. No one ever asked me my opinion. I had two private conversations with Walter, and this is a lesson, I guess: Big Government can crush you if you disagree with them. I’m trying to protect the kids.”
The Democratic staff report of the House Energy and Commerce Committee was critical of the NFL as a whole, saying the league didn’t carry out its commitment to respect the science and prioritize health and safety and allowed members of the Head, Neck and Spine Committee to attempt to influence how the NIH used the $ 30 million the league committed to research into head injuries.
The report was particularly critical of Ellenbogen, whom it called “a primary example of the conflicts of interest between his role as a researcher and his role as an NFL adviser” because he was part of a group that applied for the same grant. But Ellenbogen, who said he wasn’t paid by the NFL, said he didn’t even know Kevin Guskiewicz put his name on the grant application, and he would have served only as an adviser.
Asked about the report’s contention that he “told Dr. Koroshetz that he could not recommend that the NFL fund the BU study, because he believed that Dr. ( Robert) Stern had a conflict of interest and that the grant application process had been tainted by bias,” Ellenbogen was adamant.
“I wasn’t on that phone call. He got it wrong. He got it 100% wrong,” said Ellenbogen, who chairs the department of neurological surgery at the University of Washington. “I talked to him about the longitudinal study, not about the BU ( proposed study). That is not true. I had a private phone call with him, and I would take a lie detector tomorrow. Absolutely not.”
Ellenbogen acknowledged he called Koroshetz soon after a June 29 conference call because he was in the operating room at the time and had to drop off the call before getting a chance to speak. He said some confusion might have arisen in part because he was up for a different grant at the time — one he got to fund neurosciences training for high school and college students.
“I had something to gain? No, I had something to lose by telling the truth,” Ellenbogen said. “The thing I had to lose is if I anger Walter Koroshetz, I’ll never get another NIH grant again. How any federal official would then put this up publicly, I don’t know.”
The NFL issued a statement Monday, rejecting the allegations in the congressional report. It pointed out its contributions to research, including $ 6 million for a study by the Boston University School of Medicine and Department of Veterans Affairs on the neurogenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
The NFL is “deeply committed to continuing to accelerate scientific research and advancements in this critical area, and we stand ready to support additional independent research to that end,” the statement said.
Ellenbogen pointed to his work lobbying all 50 states to pass the so- called Zackery Lystedt Law as evidence of his commitment to studying the issue of traumatic brain injury in athletes, particularly young ones.
In 2006, Lystedt, then 13, suffered an undetected concussion while making a tackle, returned to the game and collapsed afterward with a brain hemorrhage that nearly killed him. Ellenbogen was his neurosurgeon. The law, passed in 2009, requires a youth athlete suspected of having a concussion to receive a doctor’s written approval before returning to play.
Ellenbogen said his passion for a longitudinal study was driven by the continued lack of information doctors have to answer questions they frequently get from parents about the safety of head contact not only in football but also sports such as soccer.
“Why would I go and lobby 50 states to pass the Zack Lystedt Law if I wanted to hide the ( issue)?” Ellenbogen said. “We put protection in place for kids. That’s what I do. I’m there to make sports safer. Sports are good for kids. I want to make it safer. That’s my role. Period.
“I had no delusions ( about influencing the grant selection). But as long as it’s America, I get to express my opinion. And Congress never asked me. That’s pretty interesting — guilty until proven innocent, huh?”