Menendez Hails House Passage of Legislation to Properly Handle Concussions in School Sports

Washington - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Concussions Treatment and Care Tools (ConTACT) Act to establish a set of best practices and create a 5-year grant program that would help ensure proper diagnosis and treatment of sports-related concussions in U.S. schools. Specifically, the bill would require the Department of Health and Human services to convene a conference of medical and athletic experts within two years of enactment to establish a set of standard concussion management guidelines. Grants would be awarded to states to implement best practices in concussion management for school-sponsored sports and fund schools' implementation of baseline and post-concussion neuropsychological testing technologies.

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), original author of the ConTACT Act in the Senate, hailed this important initiative and called for its final passage in the Senate:

"This bill will facilitate and make available for high school and middle school athletes the most advanced strategies available to prevent, diagnose and treat sports concussions. It will finally address this long neglected issue that jeopardizes our school athletes' health and well-being, both on and off the field. I applaud the action in the House of Representatives, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to do the same and pass this important measure to ensure the safety of young athletes."

The ConTACT Act was proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Pascrell in 2009 after two accidents in New Jersey, one of which resulted in the victim's death.

Facts on Concussions

• Baseline testing has become common in professional and college sports but is far less common in high school sports.
• Concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI)
• As many as 3.8 million concussions related to sports and recreation are estimated to occur in the U.S. each year.
• As many as 41% of concussed high school athletes may be returning to play too soon.
• A repeat concussion-one that occurs before the brain recovers from a previous concussion-can slow recovery or increase the likelihood of having long-term problems.
• In rare cases, repeat concussions can result in second impact syndrome, which can be marked by brain swelling, permanent brain damage, and death.
• Many national organizations-including the American Academy of Neurology, the National Football League, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Brain Injury Association of America-have adopted concussion management guidelines, but multiple directives have created confusion.

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