September 14, 2010 – A Penn football player was in the early stages of a disease caused by brain trauma when he committed suicide, doctors revealed. The doctors aren’t able to make a definitive connection between the brain injuries and the suicide but the full extent of the impact of such injuries is only now being understood as researchers study their long term progress.
Owen Thomas was in the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease caused by head injuries that has been linked to NFL players. The disease is linked to depression and impulse control.
A former captain of the Penn football team, Mr. Thomas was found dead at his apartment in April and it is understood that he took his own life.
For Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers and their clients, such developments speak to the need for careful investigation and preparation of head injury claims. Consideration and expert analysis of the long term effects of brain injury is required before a brain injury lawyer can responsibly consider settlement or trial of such cases.