* Have injuries from sports participation reached epidemic levels?

* Why can't injured athletes legally recover when they are victims of catastrophic injury?

* What factors have contributed to making American sports so violent?

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in a given year there are approximately 1,290,000 medically treated injuries in football, 1,230,000 in baseball and 1,180,000 in basketball. Some of the injuries are not serious but others are catastrophic, such as spinal cord injuries involving permanent paralysis. Still other injuries have resulted in death.

Athletes at all levels are subject to potential injury. Who will pay the medical bills? In a case involving quadriplegia, who will pay for a lifetime of medical assistance? Remodel homes to accommodate a wheelchair? Provide transportation? What if insurance coverage fails?

This book traces appellate court opinions which have involved sports injury cases from 1875 to the present and presents an analysis which explains why the courts in the U.S. have generally not permitted compensation, how we as a nation established violent sports then failed to compensate the injured, and how even athletes with insurance coverage have seen their families financially devastated when their coverage failed.

This is an important book for all athletes, their families and related sports professionals.