Ferd Lewis: Concussions and CTE lawsuits a growing concern, even in Hawaii

A chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) lawsuit brought by the estate of a late Lahainaluna and Kapolei High athlete who played at USC is reverberating at the University of Hawaii, where officials are concerned about UH’s potential liability in taking athletes with a history of concussions.

Simione Vehikite, a former all-state running back and linebacker, never played for the Rainbow Warriors, but the suit is among a growing list of cases beginning to confront colleges and high schools. It alleges that years of repetitive head trauma across various levels of football led to major changes in personality, behavior and, ultimately, Vehikite tragically taking his own life in 2017 at the age of 26.

The case, filed in circuit court here in December, includes USC, the NCAA, Pac-12 Conference, Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA), National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and helmet manufacturers among more than a dozen defendants. (Parties that responded to a Star-Advertiser request declined comment.)

The case has drawn the attention of members of the UH Board of Regents who questioned athletic officials Tuesday about the monitoring of UH athletes and pre-admission concussion histories of recruits.

“This is a significant risk-management issue,” said vice chairman Jeff Portnoy, one of five lawyers on the 15-member UH Board. “There are a number of lawsuits and this is just going to explode on the university level in the next two years. All we need is one lawsuit to find significant damages …”

Portnoy said, “I think this is something for us to look into,” specifically citing football and women’s soccer as sports that have “a number of concussions.”

Board chairwoman Lee Putnam asked the athletic department to provide the board with an updated, comprehensive five-year statistical report of concussions among UH athletes.

UH doctors said athletes undergo baseline testing upon arrival on campus and are required to fill out a questionnaire about their previous medical history with several questions devoted to head injuries. Where previous concussions are disclosed, doctors said they ask to see prior records.

Regents lauded the medical staff saying, “it sounds like you folks are really on top of it.”

The HHSAA has been in the national forefront of baseline testing of high school athletes through its partnership with the state-funded Hawaii Concussion Awareness and Management Program (HCAMP).

The growing attention given CTE litigation comes in the wake of the NFL having dragged its feet for years and paying a hefty, mounting price in the hundred of millions of dollars for it. Now, the ripples are beginning to be felt on collegiate, high school and even youth league levels.

What was heralded as the nation’s first collegiate concussion case to go to trial ended last summer when the NCAA reached a confidential settlement with the widow of a former University of Texas football player part way through the proceedings.

Though issues of liability went unresolved, the fact that the NCAA paid the undisclosed sum was viewed as helping to prompt a surge of cases that has followed. The website Law360.com has reported that more than 200 suits are expected to be filed this year. So many are projected to be filed just in and around Indianapolis, where NCAA headquarters is located, that multi-district litigation is likely to be centralized in Chicago, the website read.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the Super Bowl, The Guardian reported high school football participation in the U.S., in part due to CTE concerns, was down 6.1 percent over the past decade despite the fact that overall participation in high school athletics is up nearly 6 percent.

“This (CTE litigation) is something that’s not going away, it is just getting started,” Portnoy said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.