Jul 10 2008 08:09 AM
] July 10, 2008 Concussion Spurs Union to Request Guidelines By ALAN SCHWARZ The players union plans to approach Major League Baseball about developing formal leaguewide guidelines for managing concussions, a high-level union official said Wednesday. The official, Michael Weiner, the union’s general counsel, said the conversation would not explore whether Ryan Church, the Mets’ right fielder who has been sidelined by postconcussion syndrome on and off for almost two months, was properly treated by the team’s medical personnel. But Weiner said Church’s case highlighted the challenge that concussions present, and how greater scrutiny of the injury could benefit players. “We will reach out to the commissioner’s office to discuss Ryan’s situation and any lessons we might draw from it,” Weiner said in a telephone interview. “It has raised attention to the dangers of this injury, and we want to see whether we’re doing all we can or should be doing here.” A baseball spokesman, Pat Courtney, said the commissioner’s office would be receptive to such discussions. Medical decisions remain the purview of individual clubs, but Courtney said team doctors discussed concussion treatment at last November’s general managers’ meetings. Courtney said that “we will revisit the issue this winter,” and that mandatory neuropsychological testing for players “would have to be part of the discussion.” Church, who sustained his second concussion in three months on May 20, has been cleared to play three times by the Mets’ medical staff, only to have postconcussion symptoms — like headaches, dizziness and exhaustion — return days later, forcing him to be benched again. In all, he has not played in 30 games since May 20. On Tuesday, he was placed on the disabled list for the second time. It is questionable whether he will return to play this season. Church was not at Shea Stadium on Wednesday night, when the Mets played San Francisco. By the end of this week, he is expected to see a different neurologist than those who have examined him — primarily at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, the team’s medical provider. Reached by phone, his agent, Jeff Borris, declined to identify that physician or comment on Church’s situation. Weiner said he expected his primary interest in speaking with M.L.B. would be not to allege misconduct with Church, but to explore leaguewide protocols for concussions. Two players, Mike Matheny and Corey Koskie, have had to retire in the last two years because of postconcussion syndrome, and Church’s situation has raised eyebrows. “There is a recognition that with concussions you can’t go by the subjective report of the player in the same way that you might a leg or elbow injury,” said Weiner, emphasizing that he was not referring to any specific player or team. “We would also want to discuss whether all clubs have access to appropriate specialists. We might want to jointly identify specialists in all the markets that teams could take advantage of.” The apparent joint league and union interest in discussing concussion management suggests that M.L.B. may soon follow other major sports leagues in developing formal guidelines. The N.F.L., which faced criticism last year from outside experts for its handling of player concussions, updated its protocols before the 2007 season. Players knocked unconscious were no longer allowed to return to games; a hot line allowed players to report if they were being coerced to play after a concussion; and neuropsychological testing both before a season and after a concussion were made mandatory for all teams. The N.H.L. made such testing mandatory 10 years ago, and requires teams to wait until a player is free of symptoms at rest and after exertion before he is allowed to return to the ice. The Mets began neuropsychological testing of players this spring training but did not test Church because of time restrictions — so doctors have no baseline performance to compare now. At Shea Stadium on Tuesday, General Manager Omar Minaya said he retained full confidence in the team’s medical staff. “We’ve gone through our medical people,” Minaya said. “They’re the experts. We’re not the experts.” As much as Church’s injury has hurt the Mets on the field, it may have hurt him in the wallet more. Church, 29, was batting .311 with 9 home runs and 32 runs batted in through the Mets’ first 43 games when he sustained his May 20 concussion. Had he immediately been placed on the disabled list for a month and then played at his former level for the rest of the season, he could have doubled or tripled his current $2 million salary in arbitration. Because the collective bargaining agreement generally insulates teams and club officials from being held financially responsible for medical decisions, Church may not have a union-backed grievance as an option. He could bring a private lawsuit against one or more doctors who treated him. The former Red Sox infielder Marty Barrett sued Dr. Arthur Pappas, who worked for the team, and in 1995 Barrett won $1.7 million for lost wages when a United States District Court jury ruled that Pappas had withheld from Barrett information about the severity of a knee injury. |