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Doc says league lied about yanked funds
THE NFL FIBBED when it claimed last month that it had not yanked funding for a study on football and brain injuries because the project would be led by a Boston University researcher who has been critical of the league, according to a leading neurological scientist.
Walter Koroshetz, the director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, told ESPN this week that three NFL health and safety officials voiced concerns in June about the selection of BU’s Robert Stern to lead a $16 million study to develop methods to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which currently can only be identified through autopsies, in living patients.
ESPN reported in December that the NFL, which gave the National Institutes of Health what it called a no-strings-attached $30 million gift in 2012 to study links between football and traumatic brain injuries, voiced concerns about Stern’s involvement because the BU scientist filed court papers in 2014 opposing the league’s concussion lawsuit settlement. Stern’s affidavit argued the deal would deny compensation to many deserving former players.
The NFL also claimed the review process that led to Stern’s selection to head the CTE study was marred by conflicts of interest, but an NIH advisory council later concluded there was no basis for the league’s concerns.
The NFL blasted ESPN’s report as “inaccurate” last month and claimed it had no input into the NIH’s decision to use its own money to pay for the Stern-led research.
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, which procures funding for the NIH, also issued a statement last month that claimed the league was willing to pay for Stern’s seven-year study but the NIH decided instead to fund the project in its entirety and would use money from its partnership with the NFL for additional CTE research.
But Koroshetz, according to ESPN, says three NFL officials — senior vice president for health and safety Jeff Miller, Head, Neck and Spine Committee co-chairman Richard Ellenbogen and Mitch Berger, the chairman of the subcommittee on long-term effects of brain and spine injuries — raised concerns about Stern’s selection during a conference call with FNIH representatives in June.
“It was a fairly clear message that they transmitted,” said Koroshetz, who participated in the call.
The NIH decided to use taxpayer money for the Stern study, Koroshetz told ESPN, because the research is important and the NFL gave no indication it would be willing to pay for it.
The FNIH reversed course Wednesday, acknowledging to ESPN that NFL officials had indeed raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and bias.
The NFL, in a statement attributed to Miller, did not deny that its three officials had raised concerns about Stern’s involvement in the research. The $30 million donation, the statement added, was to be used at the discretion of the FNIH.
“The NFL grant funds were available for the BU study but the NIH made the decision to move forward with the BU study with its own funds and to use NFL funds for a longitudinal study,” the statement said.
Despite the league’s claims that its $30 million was unrestricted, FNIH documents obtained by ESPN describe the 2012 gift as a “conditional contribution” that allows the NFL to cancel its funding and provide input on “research concepts.”
“NFL scientific advisors raised a concern to the FNIH about potential conflict of interest and bias,” a spokeswoman for the FNIH said. “The FNIH flagged this concern to the NIH per our agreement. The decision for this be funded entirely by the NIH was made by the NIH.”
Koroshetz told ESPN that NFL officials had signed off on the study before the NIH issued a request for applications in June 2014. The White House announced the NFL’s support for the project during the “concussion” summit convened by President Obama earlier that year.