Lisa • March 27, 2022
Student Athlete Screenings – COVID

We recently became aware of a policy of a New Jersey family medical practitioner (in your region) that has the ability to create significant misinformation, confusion, and financial hardship. 

New Jersey Statue C.18A:40-41.6 clearly communicates the role of student-athlete preparticipation physical examinations.   The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association, HCMA,  and other organizations in NJ worked to pass updates to this legislation to ensure all student-athletes are protected from all forms of cardiac complications up to and including sudden cardiac arrest (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) it the most common cause of SCA in the young athletes). The assessment of cardiac arrest risk is a complex area covered in the required state-based training module for all practitioners performing both sports physicals and ‘well-child” exams. It is essential to ensure that school boards, school medical oversight providers, coaches, students, and parents are informed by evidence-based, scientifically proven theories and approaches to surveillance.

This practitioner has stated in a posted message in his office and on his website which was circulated through social media. After we saw this post we have learned posts with similar language have been circulating in many communities in the USA:

“Student-Athletes Sports physicals are done primarily to make sure you are not at high risk for sudden cardiac death on the playing field.   Covid vaccinations affect your risk. In response to a worldwide experience and vaccine adverse event monitoring, we are adopting a more precautionary sports physical sign off policy:

If you have received one of any Covid vaccine, we will not be able to compete in sports without preforming lab work and possible echocardiogram to rule out potential heart damage.”

The American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and other organization in the documents cited below have  comprehensively refuted this false narrative .   This policy and others like it may result in students being subjected to testing not covered by insurance as there is no medical necessity for the rationale behind this suggested testing. Additionally, it may result in vaccinated students being discriminated against and subject to disqualification from participation with no scientific or clinical reasoning. 

The HCMA organized a podcast with  Matthew Martinez, MD, FACC  to address this matter.

Dr. Martinez, is the medical director of  Sports Cardiology at Atlantic Health System  and co-director of the  Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program. He also served as Chair of the Sports and Exercise cardiology section for the American College of Cardiology and routinely speaks nationally and internationally on the care of the athlete, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, and COVID-19 related matters.

Please view the interview here:

On January 24, 2022 – American College of Cardiology published this article:

COVID-19 and the Athletic Heart: Key Updates from the American College of Cardiology Sports & Exercise Leadership Council by:  Jonathan H. Kim, MD, MSc, FACC ;  Aaron L. Baggish, MD, FACC ;  Eugene H. Chung, MD, FACC ;  Kimberly G Harmon, MD ;  Matthew W. Martinez, MD, FACC ;  Dermot M. J. Phelan, BAO, MB BCh, PhD, FACC ;  Benjamin D. Levine, MD, FACC

Specific to young athletes, is the risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis higher than risks of COVID-19?

Myocarditis is a rare complication after the COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and has a much lower risk compared to the risks associated with COVID-19, regardless of age or sex. Young males aged 12-29 years have the highest myocarditis event rate by age grouping with 40.6 cases per million reported.9 In a separate analysis within the Military Health System between January-April 2021, out of 2.8 million doses of mRNA COVID vaccinations administered, only 23 men were diagnosed with clinical acute myocarditis (median age 25 [20-51] years).10 It is important to emphasize the extremely favorable benefit-to-risk ratio for COVID-19 vaccination in all age and sex groups.9,11 For SARS-CoV-2 infection, the mortality rate is 0.1-1 per 100,000 individuals aged 12-29 years. Although 39-47 estimated cases of myocarditis (primarily mild in severity) would be expected for every 1 million men aged 12–29 years after the second administered dose of mRNA vaccination,9 with vaccination, approximately 11,000 COVID-19 cases, 560 hospitalizations, 138 ICU admissions, and six deaths would be estimated to be prevented. Furthermore, beyond helping to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death, vaccination also helps to mitigate the risk of the long-term, debilitating effects of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is estimated to occur in 10-30% of individuals affected by COVID-19.12,13 Therefore, we continue to support vaccination in all athletes to minimize the risk of serious infection with COVID-19, as well as reduce individual viral load and spread of infection. 

We encourage all governing bodies to ensure the science is followed. Please do not be confused efforts of some to inaccurately state the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations.   If you would like to speak to Dr. Martinez he can be reached at 973-971-5899; additionally, you may email the HCMA at  support@4hcm.org  or  call us 973-983-7429.   If you would like to learn more about HCM please sign up for  HCM Academy  or visit  4hcm.org

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Lisa Salberg                  

Founder/CEO             

Citations:

HCMA Blog

August's Topic is Newly Diagnosed

By Sabrina Cuddy • August 1, 2025
On a background of pink

Call to ACTION! Urge Congress to Invest in Medicaid and Medicare! No Cuts to these crucial programs!

By Julie Russo • July 31, 2025
Sixty years ago, Medicaid and Medicare were established when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments into law. The programs were a larger part of Johnson's "War on Poverty" agenda to combat inequality. Sixty years later, Medicaid and Medicare are under attack in ways that we could never have imagined. With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), $1 trillion was cut from Medicaid and Medicare―the largest health care cut in U.S. history. As a result of the budget package, more than 15 million people will lose health insurance, hundreds of rural hospitals will close, and approximately 51,000 people will die preventable deaths each year. Congress voted for this harm, and Congress can fix it. We need them to invest in Medicaid and Medicare in order to undo this damage. Click here to send a message to Congress telling them to invest in these critical programs, not cut them. OBBBA is the exact opposite of the "War on Poverty." The bill was passed with brutal cuts to health care to fund more tax handouts for the very wealthy. It took from the poor to give to the rich. The unpopularity of these cuts cannot be overstated. Eighty-three percent of the American public, including three in four Republicans, has a favorable view of Medicaid. Congress must hear from us loud and clear: reverse course, undo the harm to Medicaid and Medicare, and protect health care for more than 71 million people. Join us in sending the message to Congress to invest in these critical programs, don't cut them. 1 The Truth About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Cuts to Medicaid and Medicare 2 Research Memo: Projected Mortality Impacts of the Budget Reconciliation Bill 3 Medicaid keeps getting more popular as Republicans aim to cut it by $800 billion

Lisa's Letter - July Newsletter

By Lisa Salberg • July 3, 2025
Summer, greetings to all our big-hearted friends As July approaches, our focus is already on the fall and preparing for some major events, including our annual meeting coming up in October. July will also find us on the west coast in Seattle conducting a regional patient education meeting as part of our big-hearted warrior tour. We have been following the generic drug quality issue in the United States very closely and encourage you to watch the series starting with our Hill briefing in April and following with the additional webinars with our partners at Medshadow and the People's Pharmacy, and of course the ProPublica series of articles. See them all here . We are happy to have a new team member on board - we welcome Pam as our coordinator of both our All Hearts Collaborative and Hearts and Minds project. Over the next few months, you're going to be learning more about these two amazing initiatives and how we are working to provide better services for big hearts regardless of where you live, so we are meeting all of our big-hearted friends where they are. Please stay tuned for updates from these projects coming soon. We are also creating new volunteer opportunities and engagements that we hope will make it easier for you to participate in spreading the message of the importance of diagnosis, the importance of community readiness related to CPR and AED use and, of course, helping patients get to their ultimate diagnosis and getting them on the proper treatment pathways. This July I would like to recognize all of the special birthdays in my family, including HCMA Center of Excellence coordinator, Stacey Titus-brown and my daughter Rebecca Salberg. It's a milestone birthday for Becca - it’s hard to believe I have a 30-year-old child. Wishing you all a happy and healthy summer. Go build some memories!
More Posts