NHL concussion research meddling has become embarrassing and pathetic

A new affidavit filed by lawyers representing Boston University researchers against the NHL reveals the league’s latest tactics to slow the progress of the study on concussions, and they are sadly laughable.

When scientists at the school began their work, so did the NHL concussion research meddling. It’s not going well for the league, and the latest efforts by the NHL look like last acts of desperation.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wrote about the affidavit filed on Friday, which seeks the dismissal of a subpoena filed by the NHL. The subpoena is asking the court to force the researchers to turn the data they have collected over to the NHL.

Why the BU researchers object to the NHL getting access to their data

Most of the reason why the BU scientists have refused – and are now fighting – the NHL’s request for their data is in the interest of protecting the integrity of the study. Any interference by an obviously-biased party like the NHL would threaten the legitimacy of the results. In short, the entire study would become a waste of money and time.

Among the reasons given in the affidavit for the researchers’ objections are that it would slow the progress of the study, violate the privacy of the subjects, and scare other potential subjects for the study off of participating. Perhaps those are the exact results that the NHL has in mind.

While the matter of whether or not the NHL will have access to these records has been ongoing for a while, this new affidavit reveals part of the NHL’s argument for why it should have access that should make fans put their palms to their foreheads.

What’s so pathetic about the NHL’s “logic” for the court granting it access

The NHL has argued that whether or not concussions can lead to the neurological disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a matter of dispute, despite the peer-reviewed findings published by the study. Those findings show a correlation between the two. The NHL wants to discredit those findings as part of a lawsuit brought against it by a class of former players who say that the NHL should have known and made them aware of the risks of playing hockey professionally.

The way that the NHL has argued for full access to the study’s records is what should be embarrassing for the league. The counsel for the NHL pointed to one study on the drug Viagra, the data for which ultimately showed the conclusion of the study to be incorrect.

In this argument, the NHL isn’t just attacking the integrity of these researchers at Boston University. It’s attacking the integrity of the scientific process that grade school children learn in their science classes. One instance of data being incorrectly or even purposefully wrongfully interpreted doesn’t make the scientific process void.

The scientific process has produced millions of advances in engineering, healthcare, and untold other facets of human society reliably for hundreds of years of history. The polio vaccine, airplanes, even the devices audiences will read this article on all exist thanks to the scientific process. If it isn’t leading to the conclusion that CTE-deniers like the NHL’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rudy Castellani wants, however, then it’s flawed in their opinion.

What’s even more sadly laughable is that the NHL’s actions are contradicting its own rhetoric. If the link between concussions and CTE is legitimately a matter of question as the league says, then it’s in the league’s best interest for the study to be completed as quickly and with as little interference as possible to prove the NHL’s stance. With its meddling, the NHL has put its faith in its own spin in doubt.

The NHL’s already-thin case is waning even more flimsy, and the last acts of desperation it is now engaged in should be an embarrassment to league officials. What’s apparent is that the league is willing to make itself look foolish if that foolishness gives it any kind of a chance to avoid losing the lawsuit against the former players.

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