By Jon Pierik
The AFL has been forced to apologise for a poorly run concussion research project for former players, as an investigation into the work of an associate professor who was a key advisor to the league on concussion found that his reputation had an “embarrassing blemish”, but that it did not taint his work.
Senior lawyer Bernard Quinn, KC, was tasked with leading the independent investigation after associate professor Paul McCrory resigned as chair of the Concussion in Sport Group in March as allegations of plagiarism, discovered by Retraction Watch, emerged from one of his articles in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2005. Earlier this month, another nine articles were retracted by the BJSM, and a further 38 deemed to be of concern.
The British Journal of Sports Medicine has retracted 10 articles by professor Paul McCrory.
McCrory had been one of the sporting world’s leading concussion consultants, and had been the lead author on four of the last five consensus statements on concussion in sport, from which the AFL designed its concussion guidelines and recovery protocols, including the 11-step process and minimum 12-day break for concussed players.
The findings of the investigation were released in a 260-page report on Tuesday, including that “the panel found that associate professor McCrory informed the review of seven editorials which contained plagiarised text and the independent panel identified plagiarism in a further two editorials, one article and two book chapters. It found that the identified plagiarism constituted an embarrassing blemish on associate professor McCrory’s professional/academic reputation.
“However, the panel also found the identified instances of plagiarism do not affect or taint the work that associate professor McCrory had undertaken for the AFL, in particular the AFL’s guidelines on concussion, in large part because they do not involve the falsification or fabrication of relevant research.”
The AFL has provided a copy of the report to Judge John Cain, who called for this, and is conducting the coronial investigation of the death of former Richmond footballer Shane Tuck.
McCrory was under investigation by the Australian medical regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, though the report said he declined to provide any information relating to that investigation, as did AHPRA.
His work with the AFL’s concussion committee ended in January 2021, the relationship between the two parties having “deteriorated” since 2017.
McCrory has in the past downplayed the link between sports concussions and neurodegenerative disease, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, as reported in an article in InSight in April, co-authored by neurophysiologist and concussion researcher professor Alan Pearce. McCrory has declined to comment when repeatedly contacted by The Age.
The report also took aim at the handling of a historical concussion research project – the Past Player Project – run by the AFL and the Florey Institute. Past players have participated through an online screening survey.
The review found that the research project was “under-funded and under-resourced and suffered from a lack of governance, stewardship and coordination in how it was rolled-out and implemented, and how it simultaneously accommodated clinical and research objectives.
“These problems manifested in there being no published research from the study which explained the results of the research imaging undertaken on retired AFL players and confusion on the part of the past player participants as to what tests or procedures related to clinical treatment as opposed to being purely for research purposes.”
AFL football operations chief Andrew Dillon said the league would act on the recommendations.
“On behalf of the AFL I wish to apologise to the past players who gave up their time in the hope of better understanding their own condition and to assist with the research for the benefit of current and future players, and who were let down, at times, by the manner of some of the research and clinical programs were conducted,” Dillon said.
The report also urged current players to be more “frank” with their concussion symptoms, declaring it was not “tough” to return early from head knocks. Clubs were also told to be “more vigilant” in their monitoring of head knocks at training, where video replays are less prevalent or not used at all.
Concussion campaigner Peter Jess said the findings of the report were “embarrassing” for the AFL. He maintains that the league “is out of touch with the real scientific analysis of the long-term neurological damage”, insisting concussed players should sit out a minimum four weeks. However, Dillon said the just-completed report said there was no scientific data supporting that.
The AFL says it is committing $1 million a year to concussion research projects, and up to $2.5 million a year on 10-year longitudinal research.
Amid threats of a class action by former players dealing with what they say are the impacts of serious head knocks, this led by lawyer Greg Griffin, Dillon said: “Even with best practice, we cannot eliminate the risks of traumatic brain injury from playing AFL football.”
Dillon said the league was awaiting a report from prominent lawyer Peter Gordon on the merits of a multi-million dollar insurance fund for former players impacted by brain trauma.
This development comes a day after a major development in the US – and for all collision sports – where the US National Institutes of Health confirmed a causal link between repeated traumatic brain injuries and CTE. That the world’s most prominent biomedical research agency will adjust its stance on CTE means sports are on further notice about how they work to prevent and treat head knocks. The agency’s position is now at odds with the concussion in sport group.
The AFL’s chief medical officer Michael Makdissi is this week presenting at a concussion conference in Amsterdam, with the findings from it to influence the league’s impending review of concussions at all levels of the sport.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.