|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
War of words Flyers deny report that they mishandled Lindros injury
Posted: Friday March 17, 2000 04:12 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia Flyers captain Eric Lindros was taking as many as 18 over-the-counter ibuprofen pills a day, which worsened migraine headaches caused by a concussion, doctors said Friday. Lindros was released Friday from a hospital where he was being tested for persistent headaches that followed a concussion in a game two weeks ago. "The concussion caused the headaches, but the medication exacerbated the problem," said Dr. Stephen Silverstein, a neurologist with the Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Any more than three ibuprofen pills a day could have made the headaches worse, he said. Lindros underwent an MRI exam and MRA test, which examines the blood vessels in the brain. Both were negative. Still, he will not play or practice with his team until at least Wednesday, Silverstein said today. Lindros was hit in the jaw by Boston's Hal Gill during the second period of a game March 4. The concussion is the fourth he has sustained since March 1998, but is not believed to be career-threatening. "We believe there are no risks to him for playing and we gave him a clean bill of health," Silverstein said. Lindros' younger brother, Brett, was forced to retire from the NHL in 1996 after suffering three concussions with the New York Islanders and an undetermined number in juniors. Upon his admission to the hospital Wednesday, Lindros was put on high-dose cortisone steroids to take him off ibuprofen and treat the headaches, and medication for nausea. Within 24 hours, all of his right-side weakness was gone and he was "raging to go this morning," Silverstein said. "He's headache-free, symptom-free, no longer suffering from weakness on his right side and telling me this is the best he's felt in a long time," Silverstein said. Lindros will travel to Chicago on Monday to be examined by Dr. James Kelly, a neurologist at Northwestern University. Silverstein will decide Wednesday whether Lindros can rejoin the team. On Thursday, general manager Bob Clarke angrily disputed reports that team doctors and trainers mishandled Lindros' injury. Lindros played four games after the injury, but sat out Monday's game at Phoenix. Flyers team physician Jeff Hartzell said Tuesday that Lindros did not have a concussion. After examining him Wednesday, Hartzell said Lindros has a Grade I concussion, the least severe category. "We're very confident that our trainers did the right thing, that our doctors are the best doctors you can get," Clarke said before Thursday night's game against Montreal. The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing an anonymous source, reported in Thursday's editions that Lindros might have a Grade II concussion, which includes memory loss. The report said the team training staff knew for 10 days that Lindros was experiencing headaches and other concussion symptoms, including vomiting, but had been treating him with over-the-counter headache remedies and massages. Clarke called the report "lies. ... Anyone can use unnamed sources. It's not the truth. "The only way you can get to the bottom of this is we're going to ask Eric, when he gets out of the hospital, and the trainers and the doctors to meet with you and answer all your questions," Clarke said. "The speculation is very offensive." Inquirer managing editor William J. Ward said the paper stood by its story. The Inquirer also reported that Lindros was still experiencing headaches Thursday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and doctors treating him began discussing whether he should visit James Kelly, a Chicago neurologist and one of the country's leading experts on concussions. Lindros was not available for comment. Carl Lindros, his father and agent, could not be reached for comment. Clarke would not allow Hartzell and the team trainers to comment until everyone involved could meet after Lindros' release from the hospital, a team spokesman said. "We felt there was something wrong when he got hit," Flyers center Keith Primeau said. "But he shook it off and we didn't think twice about it until some of the symptoms started showing. The guys he is closest to recognized the symptoms, but we're not medical doctors."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
