"How Bennet Omalu, doctor of ‘Concussion’ fame, built a career on distorted science"

TheFrenzy · 01-26-2020, 05:16 PM

"From scientist to salesman: How Bennet Omalu, doctor of ‘Concussion’ fame, built a career on distorted science" - WashingtonPost

(You can get around WaPo's paywall by browsing in Incognito Mode.)

A few excerpts of the lengthy article:

In 2017, Bennet Omalu traveled the globe to accept a series of honors and promote his autobiography, “Truth Doesn’t Have A Side.” In a visit to an Irish medical school, he told students he was a “nobody” who “discovered a disease in America’s most popular sport.” In an appearance on a religious cable TV show, he said he named the disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, because “it sounded intellectually sophisticated, with a very good acronym.”

And since his discovery, Omalu told Sports Illustrated, researchers have uncovered evidence that shows adolescents who participate in football, hockey, wrestling and mixed martial arts are more likely to drop out of school, become addicted to drugs, struggle with mental illness, commit violent crimes and kill themselves.

A Ni#@ger#@ian American pathologist portrayed by Will Smith in the 2015 film, “Concussion,” Omalu is partly responsible for the most important sports story of the 21st century. Since 2005, when Omalu first reported finding widespread brain damage in a former NFL player, concerns about CTE have inspired a global revolution in concussion safety and fueled an ongoing existential crisis for America’s most popular sport. Omalu’s discovery — initially ignored and then attacked by NFL-allied doctors — inspired an avalanche of scientific research that forced the league to acknowledge a link between football and brain disease.

Nearly 15 years later, Omalu has withdrawn from the CTE research community and remade himself as an evangelist, traveling the world selling his frightening version of what scientists know about CTE and contact sports. In paid speaking engagements, expert witness testimony and in several books he has authored, Omalu portrays CTE as an epidemic and himself as a crusader, fighting against not just the NFL but also the medical science community, which he claims is too corrupted to acknowledge clear-cut evidence that contact sports destroy lives.

After more than a decade of intensive research by scientists from around the globe, the state of scientific knowledge of CTE remains one of uncertainty. Among CTE experts, many important aspects of the disease — from what symptoms it causes, to how prevalent or rare it is — remain the subject of research and debate.

But across the brain science community, there is wide consensus on one thing: Omalu, the man considered by many the public face of CTE research, routinely exaggerates his accomplishments and dramatically overstates the known risks of CTE and contact sports, fueling misconceptions about the disease, according to interviews with more than 50 experts in neurodegenerative disease and brain injuries, and a review of more than 100 papers from peer-reviewed medical journals.

Omalu did not discover CTE, nor did he name the disease. The alarming statistics he recites about contact sports are distorted, according to the author of the studies that produced those figures. And while Omalu cultivates a reputation as the global authority on CTE, it’s unclear whether he is diagnosing it correctly, according to several experts on the disease...
_____________________________

...Omalu’s fourth CTE type, which he called “incipient CTE,” is marked by “a combination of none to sparse” tau tangles in the cerebral cortex, brainstem and basal ganglia. Tau also can accumulate, in small amounts, in these areas through normal aging and other diseases.

Experts found Omalu’s fourth type nonsensical, noting that, as written, it suggested he would diagnose CTE in a brain with no tau.

“It sort of sounds like he’s saying, if you had someone who had a history of playing contact sports, it’s okay to diagnose them with CTE even if you don’t have any” tau, said Perl, an internationally known expert in brain diseases. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

In a deposition in 2018, Omalu displayed ambivalence when asked whether he followed the NIH guidelines. "The final decision is still with the doctor who is examining,” Omalu said. “Not every CTE case will have all those guidelines.”

McKee said she does not believe what Omalu calls “incipient CTE” is actually CTE. “His criteria for diagnosing CTE are all over the map,” McKee said. McKee and other experts in brain disease have held doubts about Omalu’s diagnostic methods since his first, and most famous, CTE paper...
_____________________________

... In Omalu’s words, CTE is an epidemic, a risk for anyone who plays any contact sport, at any level, and likely affecting every former NFL player.

“No single concussion is safe regarding the risk of developing gridiron dementia,” Omalu wrote in his first book, “Play Hard, Die Young.”

“I believe there is a very good chance that every person who plays (or has played or will play) in the NFL will suffer from some degree of CTE,” he wrote in “Truth Doesn’t Have A Side.”

In recorded medical literature, there are no documented cases of someone developing CTE from a single concussion. And while mounting scientific evidence suggests CTE is a significant risk for NFL players, studies examining groups of athletes who played other sports suggest it remains possible, if not likely, that Omalu is significantly overestimating the population potentially afflicted with CTE...

I just saw this and haven't dug into it yet, but thought others might be interested.

I don't know much about Will Hobson (the reporter here), but it looks like he won a Pulitzer for his reporting on abusive landlords and awful public housing conditions—so I doubt he's writing this in some attempt to defend the NFL.

TheFrenzy · 01-26-2020, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrenzy

A Ni#@ger#@ian American pathologist...

What the hell, Blowout?

It says "A N-I-G-E-R-I-A-N American pathologist!"

What in the world has been happening on the forum that led to the mods setting the filters this high?

SleeperCards · 01-26-2020, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrenzy

What the hell, Blowout?

It says "A N-I-G-E-R-I-A-N American pathologist!"

What in the world has been happening on the forum that led to the mods setting the filters this high?

The American education system.

mortatort · 01-26-2020, 05:36 PM

Probably because some user at some point just had to be a dip schitt

JeremyNick · 01-26-2020, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFrenzy

What the hell, Blowout?

It says "A N-I-G-E-R-I-A-N American pathologist!"

What in the world has been happening on the forum that led to the mods setting the filters this high?

You racist.

oplum29 · 01-26-2020, 06:12 PM

there's a book by Merrill Hodge about the CTE scam or something like that, book looks good, might purchase it.

altaeria · 01-26-2020, 06:23 PM

I'm pretty sure concussions are actually good for you.
They make you tougher.

And smoking makes your lungs stronger
since they have to work harder.

Oh... Prophylactics are a marketing scam.

IronMonkey415 · 01-26-2020, 06:51 PM

Knew that witch doctor was up to no good.

Siberian13 · 01-26-2020, 08:41 PM

Good, now they don't have to wear those dumb helmets

TheFrenzy · 01-26-2020, 09:36 PM

To be clear, the article isn’t saying CTE isn’t real. It’s basically saying:

- The celebrity doctor has turned into a bit of a grifter.

- Much about CTE remains unknown and much of what is known is still in the debate phase among neurologists.

- Neurologists are onboard with some of the celebrity doctor’s methods, but highly skeptical of others.

- It may take more head trauma (more than a single concussion at least) than we’ve been led to believe to initiate CTE.

The whole saga is probably a textbook case study of how high-level research findings are treated once they hit the public: A breakthrough or important finding emerges. No matter how important the finding is, the media manages to sensationalize it further. A part of the public, sensing the sensationalism, reject the findings. Others accept the sensationalizing without question and run wild with panic and attacks on the skeptics. Often times, even some of the associated researchers will start to pick up on how lucrative the sensationalism can be and will start driving it themselves in order to stay in the spotlight and cash in. All of this gets amplified further if the findings appear to threaten a powerful entity like a corporation or government and conspiracies of suppression begin to circulate. By the time the academy or other professional research bodies catch up to the initial research and start examining the methods and trying to replicate the findings, the public battle lines have been drawn. So when they inevitably find that the original findings were indeed sensationalized, no one in the public knows how to process the more measured findings—it’s hard for a lot of people to move to the middle ground between panicked acceptance and skeptical rejection.

thenwhatjk · 01-27-2020, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siberian13

Good, now they don't have to wear those dumb helmets

I lol’d Siberian

01-26-2020, 05:16 PM	#1
TheFrenzy Banned Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Texan in AZ Posts: 44,115	"How Bennet Omalu, doctor of ‘Concussion’ fame, built a career on distorted science" "From scientist to salesman: How Bennet Omalu, doctor of ‘Concussion’ fame, built a career on distorted science" - WashingtonPost (You can get around WaPo's paywall by browsing in Incognito Mode.) A few excerpts of the lengthy article: In 2017, Bennet Omalu traveled the globe to accept a series of honors and promote his autobiography, “Truth Doesn’t Have A Side.” In a visit to an Irish medical school, he told students he was a “nobody” who “discovered a disease in America’s most popular sport.” In an appearance on a religious cable TV show, he said he named the disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, because “it sounded intellectually sophisticated, with a very good acronym.” And since his discovery, Omalu told Sports Illustrated, researchers have uncovered evidence that shows adolescents who participate in football, hockey, wrestling and mixed martial arts are more likely to drop out of school, become addicted to drugs, struggle with mental illness, commit violent crimes and kill themselves. A Ni#@ger#@ian American pathologist portrayed by Will Smith in the 2015 film, “Concussion,” Omalu is partly responsible for the most important sports story of the 21st century. Since 2005, when Omalu first reported finding widespread brain damage in a former NFL player, concerns about CTE have inspired a global revolution in concussion safety and fueled an ongoing existential crisis for America’s most popular sport. Omalu’s discovery — initially ignored and then attacked by NFL-allied doctors — inspired an avalanche of scientific research that forced the league to acknowledge a link between football and brain disease. Nearly 15 years later, Omalu has withdrawn from the CTE research community and remade himself as an evangelist, traveling the world selling his frightening version of what scientists know about CTE and contact sports. In paid speaking engagements, expert witness testimony and in several books he has authored, Omalu portrays CTE as an epidemic and himself as a crusader, fighting against not just the NFL but also the medical science community, which he claims is too corrupted to acknowledge clear-cut evidence that contact sports destroy lives. After more than a decade of intensive research by scientists from around the globe, the state of scientific knowledge of CTE remains one of uncertainty. Among CTE experts, many important aspects of the disease — from what symptoms it causes, to how prevalent or rare it is — remain the subject of research and debate. But across the brain science community, there is wide consensus on one thing: Omalu, the man considered by many the public face of CTE research, routinely exaggerates his accomplishments and dramatically overstates the known risks of CTE and contact sports, fueling misconceptions about the disease, according to interviews with more than 50 experts in neurodegenerative disease and brain injuries, and a review of more than 100 papers from peer-reviewed medical journals. Omalu did not discover CTE, nor did he name the disease. The alarming statistics he recites about contact sports are distorted, according to the author of the studies that produced those figures. And while Omalu cultivates a reputation as the global authority on CTE, it’s unclear whether he is diagnosing it correctly, according to several experts on the disease... _____________________________ ...Omalu’s fourth CTE type, which he called “incipient CTE,” is marked by “a combination of none to sparse” tau tangles in the cerebral cortex, brainstem and basal ganglia. Tau also can accumulate, in small amounts, in these areas through normal aging and other diseases. Experts found Omalu’s fourth type nonsensical, noting that, as written, it suggested he would diagnose CTE in a brain with no tau. “It sort of sounds like he’s saying, if you had someone who had a history of playing contact sports, it’s okay to diagnose them with CTE even if you don’t have any” tau, said Perl, an internationally known expert in brain diseases. “That doesn’t make any sense.” In a deposition in 2018, Omalu displayed ambivalence when asked whether he followed the NIH guidelines. "The final decision is still with the doctor who is examining,” Omalu said. “Not every CTE case will have all those guidelines.” McKee said she does not believe what Omalu calls “incipient CTE” is actually CTE. “His criteria for diagnosing CTE are all over the map,” McKee said. McKee and other experts in brain disease have held doubts about Omalu’s diagnostic methods since his first, and most famous, CTE paper... _____________________________ ... In Omalu’s words, CTE is an epidemic, a risk for anyone who plays any contact sport, at any level, and likely affecting every former NFL player. “No single concussion is safe regarding the risk of developing gridiron dementia,” Omalu wrote in his first book, “Play Hard, Die Young.” “I believe there is a very good chance that every person who plays (or has played or will play) in the NFL will suffer from some degree of CTE,” he wrote in “Truth Doesn’t Have A Side.” In recorded medical literature, there are no documented cases of someone developing CTE from a single concussion. And while mounting scientific evidence suggests CTE is a significant risk for NFL players, studies examining groups of athletes who played other sports suggest it remains possible, if not likely, that Omalu is significantly overestimating the population potentially afflicted with CTE... I just saw this and haven't dug into it yet, but thought others might be interested. I don't know much about Will Hobson (the reporter here), but it looks like he won a Pulitzer for his reporting on abusive landlords and awful public housing conditions—so I doubt he's writing this in some attempt to defend the NFL.

01-26-2020, 06:12 PM	#6
oplum29 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 10,405	there's a book by Merrill Hodge about the CTE scam or something like that, book looks good, might purchase it. __________________ "got em, got em, need em, got em, got em, need em, got em" - Little Monsters

01-26-2020, 08:41 PM	#9
Siberian13 Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 80,527 shiller13	Good, now they don't have to wear those dumb helmets __________________ Took their ball and went home

01-26-2020, 05:36 PM	#4
mortatort Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Floriduh Posts: 6,357 mortatort	Probably because some user at some point just had to be a dip schitt

01-26-2020, 06:23 PM	#7
altaeria Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: CenterCityPhiladelphia Posts: 1,934 altaeria altaeria	I'm pretty sure concussions are actually good for you. They make you tougher. And smoking makes your lungs stronger since they have to work harder. Oh... Prophylactics are a marketing scam.

01-26-2020, 06:51 PM	#8
IronMonkey415 Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 44,118 ironmonkeyfromsf	Knew that witch doctor was up to no good.

01-26-2020, 09:36 PM	#10
TheFrenzy Banned Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Texan in AZ Posts: 44,115	To be clear, the article isn’t saying CTE isn’t real. It’s basically saying: - The celebrity doctor has turned into a bit of a grifter. - Much about CTE remains unknown and much of what is known is still in the debate phase among neurologists. - Neurologists are onboard with some of the celebrity doctor’s methods, but highly skeptical of others. - It may take more head trauma (more than a single concussion at least) than we’ve been led to believe to initiate CTE. The whole saga is probably a textbook case study of how high-level research findings are treated once they hit the public: A breakthrough or important finding emerges. No matter how important the finding is, the media manages to sensationalize it further. A part of the public, sensing the sensationalism, reject the findings. Others accept the sensationalizing without question and run wild with panic and attacks on the skeptics. Often times, even some of the associated researchers will start to pick up on how lucrative the sensationalism can be and will start driving it themselves in order to stay in the spotlight and cash in. All of this gets amplified further if the findings appear to threaten a powerful entity like a corporation or government and conspiracies of suppression begin to circulate. By the time the academy or other professional research bodies catch up to the initial research and start examining the methods and trying to replicate the findings, the public battle lines have been drawn. So when they inevitably find that the original findings were indeed sensationalized, no one in the public knows how to process the more measured findings—it’s hard for a lot of people to move to the middle ground between panicked acceptance and skeptical rejection.