title: Health Care for NFL Players: Upholding Physician Standards and Enhancing the Doctor-Patient Relationship.
abstract: Beginning my third year with the Kansas City Chiefs and being also a medical student at McGill University, I was at first a little reluctant to comment on Glenn Cohen et al.'s critique of the National Football League's structure involving player health and team doctors, but the opportunity to provide a perspective as both a football player and a medical student was too much to forgo. Because of my athletic and academic background, I am often asked what I think about injuries in professional sports and about the role of sports medicine physicians, and Cohen et al.'s article demands a thoughtful reaction. I want to suggest that the fundamental principles concerning the medical profession and the doctor-patient relationship provide additional arguments for some of the solutions that Cohen et al. discuss. The professional self-regulation that the proposed medical committee could provide and the reliance on a doctor who was not hired by the player's employer-the club-for a second opinion are both good ways to minimize conflicts of interest.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duvernay-Tardif
mesh_terms: D016265:Conflict of Interest; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards*; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000941:ethics; D000068958:Return to Sport / Q000941:ethics; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D035502:Trust; D014481:United States