Brett Favre helped an experimental drug maker get $2M in welfare money. Experts doubt the drug can
Brett Favre helped an experimental drug maker get $2M in welfare money. Experts doubt the drug can work.
Four years ago, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre joined forces with a Florida neuroscientist to promote an experimental drug — a nasal spray designed to quickly treat brain injuries from a concussion.
Favre, a major investor in the company, touted the substance on podcasts, radio interviews and national television, including on NBC. And he did more than evangelize, court records show — he successfully lobbied Mississippi state officials who granted the company $2.1 million in federal welfare money that was intended to help poor families.
The payment was illegal, state officials allege in a lawsuit — part of a huge Mississippi welfare misspending scandal that has tarnished Favre’s reputation.
But beyond that, experts say, it was a bad investment by the nation’s poorest state. Concussions are a huge problem in youth, college and professional sports, but as of today there is no evidence the experimental drug Favre promoted does anything to treat them in humans, according to a review of claims by the company.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/brett-favre-helped-experimental-drug-maker-get-2m-welfare-money-expert-rcna58190