By Erik Brady, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Experts testifying at a Senate committee hearing on concussion and the marketing of sports equipment said Wednesday that there is no such thing as concussion-proof helmets, mouth guards or head bands.

“The potential harm that I see being caused by products that claim to prevent concussion when they do not is far more than simply the financial harm of paying more for something that isn’t likely to work as claimed,” said Jeffrey S. Kutcher of the neurology department at the University of Michigan. “The public deserves to know that equipment has a significant, but inherently limited, ability to prevent concussions.”

Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W. Va.), chair of the Senate committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said in his opening remarks that “any company that claims” its products “will protect young athletes from concussions is making an empty, unsubstantiated promise.”

Rockefeller did not name any companies, but during the questioning portion of the hearing Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) singled out Riddell football helmets, Brain-Pad mouth guards, ForceField headbands and Brain Guard dietary supplements.

Udall held up a copy of the package that said the mouthguards create “Brain Safety Space.” “I don’t know what brain safety space really means,” Kutcher said. Udall also said Riddell claims an independent study shows its Revolution helmets reduce the risk of concussion by 31% versus traditional helmets. “There is no significant basis to make that claim,” Kutcher said. He questioned the quality of the study and the basis for the percentage claim.

Udall has called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate claims such as these. He has introduced legislation that would make it a crime to sell sporting equipment that makes false or misleading claims about product safety. “No sports equipment can prevent all concussions,” Udall said, “despite any advertising claims to the contrary.” No representatives of the companies in question attended the hearing.

Other speakers at the hearing included Alexis Ball, whose soccer career at the University of New Mexico was cut short by multiple concussions, and Steven Threet, who played quarterback at Michigan and Arizona State before his career was also ended by a series of concussions. “Concussion awareness needs to be more prevalent among athletes and coaches in our society,” Ball said. “People also need to understand that wearing protective gear does not stop concussions from occurring.” “If a helmet could guarantee protection from concussions,” Threet said, “I would still be playing football.”

Mike Oliver, executive director and legal counsel for the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, said: “Any device or supplement promoted as being able to prevent, diagnose or cure a concussion must be supported by scientific data and peer-reviewed research. The same is true with regard to standards for protective equipment.”

Ann McKee, professor of Neurology and Pathology at the Boston University School of Medicine, said she has found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease, in autopsies of former athletes as young as 17.

“Nothing is simple about this issue,” Rockefeller said. “That’s why I find it so disturbing that some sports equipment manufacturers are exploiting our growing concerns about sports concussions.”