The AFL has confirmed that influential sports neurologist Dr Paul McCrory has not been a member of the league’s Concussion Scientific Committee or any other of its committees or groups working on concussion since 2021.
An AFL spokesperson said McCrory ceased to be involved with the league’s concussion committees or working groups in January 2021, and has not been involved in such a capacity with the league since.
The spokesperson did not provide detail on why the affiliation around concussion ended, and McCrory has not responded to repeated requests for comment. But his work with the AFL on concussion ceased before allegations of plagiarism occurred.
McCrory resigned as chair of the Concussion in Sport Group on 5 March after being accused of plagiarising stories in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, with the journal removing one of his editorials from 2005 for alleged “unlawful and indefensible breach of copyright” of the work of Prof Steve Haake.
McCrory has since been accused of further plagiarism, and reportedly apologised, telling website Retraction Watch that he had requested the papers in question be retracted and “The errors were not deliberate or intentional”.
Separately, on Wednesday, Australia’s medical regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency told Guardian Australia that in May 2018 McCrory “provided an enforceable undertaking to the Medical Board of Australia that he will not perform neurodiagnostic procedures, nerve conduction studies, or electromyography until approved to so by the Board”.
An Ahpra spokesperson confirmed that undertaking is still in effect, remaining in force until it is removed from the public register. When asked for the reasons why the undertaking was given they said “privacy provisions in the National Law prevent us from commenting further”.
Ahpra said that, speaking generally, medical regulatory agencies “can accept an undertaking from a practitioner to limit the practitioner’s practice in some way if this is necessary to protect the public”.
“When a National Board or adjudication body decides an undertaking is no longer required to ensure safe practice, they are revoked and are no longer published,” she said. “An undertaking is voluntarily entered into by a practitioner as opposed to a ‘condition’ which is imposed on a practitioner’s registration.”
She added that “current undertakings which relate to a practitioner’s health are mentioned on the national register but details are not provided”.
Guardian Australia does not suggest that there is any issue with McCrory’s health or that his professional practice poses any risk to the public and has approached him for an explanation as to why he provided the enforced undertaking.
McCrory is a former Collingwood club doctor and has advised the AFL on its concussion policies.
Dan Palmer, who is scrum coach for rugby union team the Brumbies and a former player, said that in his view McCrory should not be involved in the development of any concussion policies while his work is the subject of plagiarism allegations.
Palmer is a PhD student in neuroscience at the Australian National University in Canberra and said, while he is not a concussion researcher, “from my experience in contact sport it is clear that concussion can have considerable implications for people over varying timeframes”.
“I am not familiar with the exact roles McCrory has played in developing concussion protocols, but given the situation, the protocols influenced by him or his research should be reviewed to be sure they align with the best quality and most up-to-date science,” Palmer said.
Last week the AFL’s chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, told the Herald Sun, amid the plagiarism allegations, that the league had not cut ties with him: “As far as I understand, he has a relationship with us as we do with many parties,” McLachlan was quoted as saying. “And I’ve had no discussions about any review of that.”
“I think there is a discussion which I’m aware of around plagiarism of an article in 2005. That is for other people to sort out and I think it was an introduction rather than the research.”
On Tuesday a spokesperson for the AFL said McCrory had not been a member of the AFL’s Concussion Scientific Committee nor any other committee or working group working on concussion in the AFL since January 2021. He did not respond to questions about whether McCrory is still involved with the league in any other capacity.
Concussion in AFL has been a controversial topic, with increasing calls for the league to acknowledge cognitive issues experienced by players and former players, allegedly as a result of head injuries that occurred during their playing careers.
The AFL told Guardian Australia player safety is a priority.
“Prioritising the health and safety of our players at all levels of Australian Football is paramount and the AFL will continue to take appropriate steps to improve safety whilst maintaining the fabric of our great game,” the statement said.
It said the AFL’s concussion management protocols draw on a variety of sources beyond the international consensus statements on concussion in sport “as was evident from the AFL’s adoption in 2021 of a minimum 12-day rest and rehabilitation period post-concussion”.
Last year the AFL announced the appointment of a “head of concussion and healthcare governance” and a “head of concussion innovation and research” to coordinate the game’s response to sports-related concussion.
“The AFL Commission also approved funding for a longitudinal research project to track players from the talent pathways through to post career,” the statement said.
