Aethlon Medical Inc (AEMD)

[glasanderson]

Update: NFL concussion-initiative

The article below appeared in today’s Washington Post. Note the reference to “Boston University researcher Robert Stern.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2016/09/15/house-republicans-ask-agency-to-review-nfl-nih-interactions-over-research-funding/

House Republicans ask agency to review NFL, NIH interactions over research funding
By Mark Maske September 15, 2016 Washington Post

Four members of a House committee have requested that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services review the interaction between the NFL and the National Institutes of Health regarding funding for research into brain injuries.

The referral letter to the HHS’s office of the inspector general was signed by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as three other Republican members, Reps. Tim Murphy and Joseph R. Pitts of Pennsylvania, and Michael C. Burgess of Texas.

“It is possible the NIH acted appropriately,” they wrote. “Perhaps the same can be argued for other parties involved. In the opinion of the Republican staff, the Committee does not have all the facts necessary to reach those conclusions. … While this grant award has become an unfortunate distraction from the greater issue of improving the science of traumatic brain injury (TBI), given the significant public attention to these events, it is clear that a thorough and objective review by the HHS OIG is necessary.”

In May, a report by Democratic members of the same committee, led by ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), accused the NFL of trying to pressure the NIH to take a $16 million project from Boston University researcher Robert Stern. The project was to be funded from an unrestricted $30 million donation from the NFL to the NIH.

“The NFL attempted to use its ‘unrestricted gift’ as leverage to steer funding away from one of its critics,” the report said.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the league’s actions at the time.

“We have several members that are advisers on our committees. … who have had experience with NIH or worked with NIH,” Goodell said in May. “And these are very important to continue to have that kind of dialogue through appropriate channels, which our advisers have. They have those relationships. That’s a standard practice.

“So we have our commitment of $30 million to the NIH. We’re not pulling that back one bit. We continue to focus on things that our advisers believe are important to study. Ultimately it’s the NIH’s decision.”

In a written statement Thursday, the league said: “The NFL has never wavered in its commitment to advance the science and understanding of concussions and traumatic brain injuries. The league’s $30 million commitment to the FNIH/NIH was never in doubt and at no time — as FNIH has confirmed — did the NFL suggest that it would not fulfill that commitment to the last dollar. While there were concerns regarding the NIH’s selection of research applicants, the NFL never suggested — nor considered — doing anything other than honoring that commitment in its entirety. It is unfortunate that the deployment of the remaining $16 million in research funds has been tied up in what the Committee’s letter calls a ‘distraction.’ ”