FL Lawmakers Reject Bills to Protect Child Athletes from Head Injuries

The introduction of two bills in the Florida House and Senate earlier this year marked significant steps to protect child athletes from brain injuries. Unfortunately, they were stopped in their tracks and did not pass. HB 301 and SB 730 sought to require the Florida High School Athletic Association to remove student athletes who showed signs of a concussion from a game or practice until they received clearance from a physician.

Concussions are forms of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), and if left untreated, they can be far more dangerous than previously believed.  Approximately 21% of  all traumatic brain injuries among children and adolescents result from playing sports and participating in other recreational activities.

It is disappointing that Florida legislators have rejected these critical measures to protect the state’s children from such deadly injuries. A number of other states have passed similar legislation in the past year, and several bills remain pending in other states.  Washington was the first state to pass its version of such a bill in 2009, called the Zachary Lystedt Law after a 13-year-old middle school football player who was allowed to keep playing after being hit in the head during a game.  He suffered a paralyzing brain hemorrhage after being hit a second time, requiring the removal of both sides of his cranium.

At the federal level, a related bill called the Children’s Sports Athletics Equipment Safety Act calls for stronger helmet standards and increases the penalty for sports equipment manufacturers who make false injury prevention claims.

The attorneys at PERENICH The Law Firm have over 70 years of combined experience in litigating brain injury cases through trial and a jury verdict. We have tried dozens of cases throughout Florida, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco Counties, and you can count on us to fight to resolve your case for what it’s worth.

4 Comments on “FL Lawmakers Reject Bills to Protect Child Athletes from Head Injuries

  1. I agree after reading the great post above. Here is my opinion – The amount of fatal work injuries among the self-employed declined by 6 percent to 999 fatalities, a lot more than the decline in their hours worked. The amount of fatal injury among wage and salary workers increased by 2 percent in 2010. Fatal work accidents in the exclusive mining industry rose from 99 in 2009 to 172 in 2010, an increase of 74 percent. The fatal work injuries rate for mining elevated from 12.4 per 100,000 FTEs in 2009 to 19.9 per 100,000 in 2010. The multiple-fatality incidents on the Upper Big Branch Mine and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are involved in these numbers.

  2. I agree after reading the great post above. I would like to share my opinion – Though by no means deliberate, work injury come about on a day-to-day basis. There are some employment that are far more susceptible to injuries and when it happens staff payment ought to pick up professional medical expenses and time out of task. There are several jobs that accounts with the bulk of work injury cases across the United States. They’re generally construction laborers, tractor trailer drivers and movers. When an individual has a work injury lawsuit they assume to be compensated for lost wages and all medical expenses. When a person is unable to get paid what is rightfully owed to them, they may ought to file an appeal.

  3. I would like to thanks for the great info that I have, so I would like to share my opinion – The amount of fatal work injuries amongst the self-employed declined by 6 percent to 999 fatalities, more than the decline in their hours worked. The number of fatal injury between wage and salary laborers increased by 2 percent in 2010. Fatal work injury on the private mining sector rose from 99 in 2009 to 172 in 2010, an increase of 74 percent. The fatal work injuries rate for mining increased from 12.4 per 100,000 FTEs in 2009 to 19.9 per 100,000 in 2010. The multiple-fatality incidents on the Upper Big Branch Mine and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are included in these numbers.