Health

Update: Is Man With ‘Deleted’ Memory Just Making it Up?

For the past year, former NFL player Scott Bolzan — who in 2008, slipped fell and lost nearly all of his memory — has been sharing his harrowing tale of regaining his life back and promoting his book My Life, Deleted. But after a series of highly publicized interviews, neurologists are coming out questioning the probability of such extreme memory loss.

Experts Say Scott Bolzan Could be Faking Extent of His Amnesia

Scott Bolzan and his wife Joan. (Photo: East Valley Tribune)

When Bolzan regained consciousness after a spill in his office landed him in the hospital, he could not remember his wife, the fact that he had played for the Cleveland Browns or even his own name.

The New York Post now reports one of Bolzan’s doctor as saying that he may be faking such extreme symptoms:

He made the rounds of TV talk shows last week promoting a memoir he co-authored with his wife, Joan, titled “My Life, Deleted.”

But a doctor who examined Bolzan after his fall told The Post that Bolzan was possibly “feigning his alleged memory deficits,” citing the “implausibility” of his purported symptoms.

He says it’s questionable that an injury to one part of the brain could affect all the different memory circuits spread throughout the organ — while his cognitive function and ability to make new memories remained unharmed. Bolzan didn’t seem to have residual cognitive problems; he relearned how to drive, play golf, and even received a gun license in 2010.

Dr. William Barr, chief of neuropsychology at NYU Langone Medical Center, called this type of memory loss “Hollywood amnesia.”

“Not knowing what a TV is, not knowing what a cellphone is, this is all inconsistent with any known form of brain damage,” added Dr. Joel Morgan, an expert in medical malingering.

Total autobiographical loss is “automatically a red flag for considering a severe personality disorder or a plain-vanilla malin-gerer,” said Dr. Manfred Greiffenstein, a neuropsychologist who has not examined Bolzan.

“What made Bolzan’s claims unusual from the start was its violation of bedrock principles: Old memories are more resistant to brain damage than fresh ones,” said Greiffenstein. “But here we see the opposite — well-established memories wiped out, but recent memory preserved.”

Additionally, the Daily Mail reported that Bolzan filed for bankruptcy in 2002, sued the property management company that own the building where he fell, and did not respond to accusations about his unconventional memory loss.

Watch Bolzan and his family tell their tale in 2009:

Comments (23)

  • kayakergirl
    Posted on October 11, 2011 at 9:57am

    My husband was hit by a car at age 10. He actually coded and died, white hole, all of that. When he was resuscitated and regained conciousness he had lost all memory of his family and childhood. He still has no memory of his life before that accident, although he has an uncanny near photographic memory and is close to genius in intelligence, NO LIE. It can be true, I don’t know if this guy is lying, but my husband isn’t.

    Report Post »  
  • nappy
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 1:44pm

    Re-label the book FICTION and move on. What a waste of time.

    Report Post »  
    • ShyLow
      Posted on October 10, 2011 at 2:27pm

      I have memory loss from a time when I was in the mental hopital…I was already having a scyhotic episode and all the drugs on top of that,really messed up my memory

      Report Post » ShyLow  
  • ares338
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:51am

    He couldn’t possibly lie more than everyone in this current administration. He just want’s to make a little money. Buy his book or don’t buy his book. Who cares?

    Report Post » ares338  
  • Jenny Lind
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:43am

    Wow, none of you watch Dr. Phil, huh? He was on there and told of the struggle to find out what had caused it. Come to find out the fall caused a lack of blood in the brain, done under specialty mri and the cause is now known, and a treatment used on vets and other brain injuries is going to be tried, although the Dr who figured it out said the damage may be irreversible, the family is hoping. Sounds like the one saying he’s faking might be the one looking for sensation. He had a charter flight company which folded when he could no longer run it, and most of us would try to sue if we were injured by someone’s stupidity. Seemed like a very nice couple, and daughter, trying to figure out a new life after a trauma. Not the only person to have gone through this, but it’s rare. Here’s the deal, Dr Phil is not a fool, and he does his homework,as of right now, he thinks it is a real deal.

    Report Post »  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on October 10, 2011 at 1:15pm

      He and his wife cooked up this plan to make money off a book and TV tour. Brain injuries don’t work like that, period, end of story.

      Report Post »  
    • Jenny Lind
      Posted on October 10, 2011 at 3:27pm

      Really? then I guess the Doctor who ran the test, the raiologist who read it, are not as intelligent as they think they are.so where did you get your M.D.?

      Report Post »  
    • COFemale
      Posted on October 10, 2011 at 3:49pm

      ROWGUE, glad to see you are our resident medical expert. Where did you go to school?
      MIT, NYU, or some other school? Please enlighten us.

      Doctors are not infallible; they can misdiagnose a person. Beside, who are you to question the validity of his claims. You are no more important than I am and our opinions mean diddly squat.

      Great job calling him/her out Jenny Lind.

      Report Post » COFemale  
  • KickinBack
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:34am

    Maybe he can play Jason Bourne in a future sequel.

    Report Post » KickinBack  
  • TheNetSoldier
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:22am

    The snowball effect of lying. Once he started, he has to just ride it out no matter how deep it takes him.

    Report Post »  
  • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:09am

    For someone who has to re-live everything, doesn’t know what Halloween is, he can remember what a goat eats and automatically knows to blow out a candle after they sing “Happy Birthday.”
    I have had retrograde amnesia, it’s a condition where you unconscious, but can still have conversations, like you are on automatic pilot, but it’s not permanent. I woke up after four days and I cannot even remember having a crash, but this guy remembers his feet coming out from under him?
    I don’t buy it.
    What this guy claims to have is not retrograde amnesia. It’s more like convenient amnesia.

    Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • Rajabear1
      Posted on October 10, 2011 at 4:23pm

      My goodness! I think my children have that convenient amnesia, too! Maybe they can write books and support me in my old age…(-:

      Report Post »  
  • wethepublic
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:00am

    Last time I slip and feel I woke up remembering how many news stories are made up after reading this
    http://BiggestCoverUp.blogspot.com/

    Report Post »  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on October 10, 2011 at 12:43pm

      Is this some new way to get paid for posting? Instead of putting in your own comments, you insert a link to a garbage story? Who pays you for doing this, MoveOn, MediaMatters, HuffPo, Soros.Inc, etc?

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
  • IvanK
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:58am

    Sounds like a former Pro ball players was smart enough to begin a new lucrative career as a scam artist! After all, who’s going to question a football hero?

    Report Post » IvanK  
  • 4X4in
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:58am

    A dingo ate, MYYYY baby!

    Report Post »  
  • I.Gaspar
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:56am

    if bashir bought into it, the guy has to be a fraud.
    He remembers nothing, but he remembers falling.
    It’s a con.
    How big is the lawsuit?

    Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:56am

    Do you think the nation can erase the Obama administration from our collective memory in 2012 ????

    Report Post »  
  • rhaedge
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:54am

    I forgot what I was going to say?

    Report Post »  
    • 120pages
      Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:06am

      How’s this:

      I forgot what I was going to say…now, buy my book!!

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:53am

    The truth will be born out one way or another.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • TomFerrari
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:51am

    Only his hairdresser knows for sure.
    lol

    Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • lukerw
    Posted on October 10, 2011 at 10:51am

    It must be a Virus… as I cannot find anyone in my area who says that they voted for Obama!

    Report Post » lukerw  

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