Citation

Gulland A. BMJ 2016; 352: h6856.

Affiliation

freelance journalist, London

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bmj.h6856

PMID

26738917

Abstract

The new film Concussion tells the story of a naive young Nigerian pathologist who took on the multibillion dollar National Football League (NFL) over its record on protecting players from brain injury.

Will Smith plays Bennet Omalu, a medical examiner in Pennsylvania, who first came up against the NFL in 2002 when he did an autopsy on “Iron Mike” Webster, a legendary Pittsburgh Steelers’ center for 15 years. Webster died at the age of 50 from a myocardial infarction, but Omalu wanted to find out what led to the player’s well documented meltdown after his retirement. He ended up living in his car and was confused, forgetful, and depressed.

When he examined Webster’s brain Omalu was surprised to find that it showed no obvious after effects from the many knocks and …

Language: en