Been answering a lot of reader email (and if I have not gotten back to you yet, I am working on it – 500-plus to get through!) regarding my story in The New York Times on Michigan and Michigan State having neurologists on their football sidelines.
A few things I wanted to add/discuss, because as always, a writer never has enough space 🙂
– Drs. Kaufman (MSU) and Kutcher (UM) are not just for the football program. They see all the athletes at their universities. There are 900 at Michigan, and 800 at Michigan State, and a lot of the other sports, such as wrestling, basketball, volleyball, etc. can lead to concussions too.
– Some readers have questioned if the Drs. are really allowed to make their own diagnoses, even it it means taking a star player out of action. From what I was told by everybody, from the athletic directors, coaches, to the neurologists, the process seems clean. If somebody is hurt, they’re not going back in. The brain is more precious than a game.
– Why don’t more schools do this? Every athletic program has their own protocols, so just because they don’t have a neurologist on the sideline does not mean they aren’t taking care of their players. A lot use referrals out to neurologists from their primary care docs.