‘Spider-Man’ Lead Actress Leaves Exits Play After Sustaining Concussion

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Posted on 31st December 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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The lead actress of the troubled Broadway show “Spider-Man: Turn Off  The Dark,” who suffered a concussion during a preview, is leaving the production with a large exit package, according to several press reports Wednesday.

Natalie Mendoza, who played the spider villainess Arachne, is still recovering from the head injury she sustained Nov. 28. She was struck in the  head with a rope while standing offstage during that performance, which was the musical’s first preview.

During the past few days, she has been negotiating and nailing down an exit deal from the $65 million play, according to The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/theater/29spider.html?ref=arts

Mendoza, 30, is one of several actors who have been injured while performing in the show.

She had returned to the stage on Dec. 15, according to The New York Post, and her last performance was Dec. 20. She was replaced by an understudy after getting nauseous and having headaches. Mendoza has also written on Facebook about her recovery from her concussion, talking about her “brilliant” neurologist and the fact that now she was only taking four painkillers and two pills for nausea a day.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/bowing_out_of_spidey_GbwMSZv1XCAoO1x41nIWCO

“Nice to be almost back to normal,” she wrote.

 

 

 

    

NFL Holds Summit On Updating Helmet Safety Standards

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Posted on 13th December 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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The National Football League last week held a summit on how safety standards for football helmets can be modernized and improved, gathering equipment makers, physicists and “military biomechanists” for the discussion, according to The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/sports/football/09helmets.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22NFL%22%20and%20%22helmets%22&st=cse

The problem today with helmets is that they are designed to protect a player from injuries such as skull fractures, but not to guard against more subtle and hidden brain trauma, like concussions. The Times has done several stories about the fact that the helmet-safety guides set by the National Organizing Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment haven’t changed since 1973.

There apparently was a lot of talk and little agreement during last Wednesday’s summit in Manhattan, except on one point: That the football helmets worn by youth players should have different standards than those for NFL players. While the youth helmets are lighter, their performance specs are the same as for the pros, despite their physical differences, according to The Times.

Also at the meeting, several equipment managers also demonstrated their “in-helmet accelerometers,” which can help identify the collisions that cause concussions.

The issue of helmet safety is an ongoing study. The Consumer Products Safety Commission last week said it would investigate helmet standards, which it is doing at the request of Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico.

There is already research being done, involving hundreds of high school  and college students, by the University of North Carolina and Virginia Tech on impact levels and concussions, The Times reported. But there is no such research yet for pro players.    

 

 

Consumer Commission Vows To Press For Stricter Football Safety Standards

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Posted on 4th December 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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 The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) testified in Washington last week that it plans to work toward the speedy development of new safety standards for football helmets, especially for children, The New York Times reported Friday.   

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/sports/football/03helmets.html?src=twrhp&scp=1&sq=consumr%20products%20safety%20commission&st=cse

CPSC chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum made her remarks before a Senate Commerce subcommittee Thursday, which was conducting a hearing that was mainly focused on the safety of cribs and toys.

Tenenbaum testified that the CPSC was in talks now with the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, which regulates helmets, The Times said. That body’s safety standards have been in place for decades, and were aimed at protectng against skull fractures, not injuries such as concussions.

The CPSC will work with the standards operating committee in January “to monitor and accelerate their efforts to update the appropriate standard,” Tenenbaum said.

The CPSC has a lawmaker breathing down its neck, namely Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. He asked the CPSC to get involved in the creation of new helmet standards. Right now, the same guidelins apply to helmets for young boys and NFL players.   

 Udall has also been back and forth with the NFL’s head, neck and spine committee, which is thinking about creating a separate helmet standard for professional football players, according to The Times.