A New York Times-led investigation into the National Football League's concussion research has found that more than 10 percent of diagnosed concussion cases in the NFL were omitted from the data, making it seem as though concussions occur less frequently than they actually do. The findings call into question the NFL committee's 13 peer-reviewed articles — said to be based on a full account of all diagnosed concussions from 1996 to 2000 — that claim that players do not suffer long-term damage from brain injuries.
Committee officials acknowledged the missing data and said that "the clubs were not required to submit their data and not every club did." They say expectations should have been made clearer, adding that the missing data was not "an attempt 'to alter or suppress the rate of concussions" and that the studies "never purported" to include all diagnosed concussions, The New York Times reports.
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