Traumatic brain injury

Current military health insurance denies access to proven therapies

August 5, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill this week asked the Department of Defense to expand health care coverage for the nearly 20 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who may be suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI). McCaskill and nine of her Senate colleagues are urging Secretary Robert Gates to expand TRICARE, the military’s health insurance program, to include cognitive rehabilitation therapy, a proven treatment for TBI which is currently excluded from the insurance policy.    » read more »

Senators ask Secretary Gates to ensure soldiers with traumatic brain injuries have access to proven therapy

August 4, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - With an estimated 320,000 American soldiers who have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan experiencing a possible traumatic brain injury (TBI), Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) today called on Defense Secretary Robert Gates to extend military health care coverage to include proven treatment for the signature injury of the two wars.    » read more »

5/1/2008 -- Hillary Clinton issued the following statement today, responding to a troubling Veterans Administration investigation that found Iraq War veterans suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) are not getting the adequate health care and assistance they need.

"Our brave young men and women in uniform risk their lives to protect this country, and yet the response to TBI - which has been called the signature injury of the Iraq war - has been virtually invisible. This is truly a dereliction of duty. "

"When our young men and women sign up to serve our country, we sign up to serve them. We need a President who will stand up for our servicemembers and veterans.    » read more »

May 2, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today visited the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain to raise awareness about a new program that screens veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for brain injuries.

A Mild Traumatic Brain Injury or MTBI, can cause a wide range of symptoms. Problems such as memory loss, headache, insomnia and irritability can all be traced back to MTBI, yet they can often go undiagnosed because there is no obvious wound.    » read more »

Summary of legislation included below

April 11, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in celebration of last night’s Senate passage of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act Reauthorization. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives earlier this week, and will now be sent to the President for his signature.    » read more »

Illinois Warriors Assistance Program includes Traumatic Brain Injury screening and 24-hour toll-free helpline at 1-866-554-IWAP (4927) for Veterans suffering from symptoms associated with PTSD

March 4, 2008 -- CHICAGO – Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today proclaimed March Brain Injury Awareness Month in Illinois to increase public awareness and understanding of brain injuries and to urge the state’s Veterans to get screened for a possible traumatic brain injury (TBI) through the new Illinois Warrior Assistance Program.    » read more »

President's Budget Would Eliminate Critical Program

February 12, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) today called on President Bush to reverse his plan to eliminate the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Program, a crucial component of the federal government’s system of care for the millions of Americans dealing with TBI, including many veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.    » read more »

Chairman and majority Committee members urge VA to improve proposed regulations and repeal "10 percent rule"

February 5, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, was joined by Senators Rockfeller, Murray, Obama, Tester, Brown, and Sanders in submitting formal comments yesterday on regulations proposed by the Department of Veterans Affairs governing compensation for veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI is a signature wound of the war in Iraq, affecting many veterans who have suffered IED blast injuries.    » read more »

January 30, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on a study linking brain injury and PTSD among servicemembers returning from Iraq. The study, conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, was published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The report is available on the web at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/NEJMoa072972v1.pdf    » read more »

01/28/2008 - Army Col. (Dr.) Loree Sutton is a woman on a mission.

The military psychiatrist has, for the last month, ricocheted across the Capital Beltway landscape and beyond, setting up a Defense Department office that will, for the first time, bring together the best of the best relating to psychological health and brain injury treatment.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2008 – While it still may be years away, military medical officials hope to one day place a sensor on every troop that would measure a blast’s impact and alert a combat medic to the possibility of a brain injury.

The latest fielding of helmets fitted with blast sensors to troops deploying to combat could be the first step to gathering the data to support that technology, Michael J. Leggieri Jr., deputy coordinator for DoD’s Blast Injury Research Program Coordinating Office, said.    » read more »

December 14, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT) today lauded passage of the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill, which included provisions they championed to help improve mental health services for members of the United States Armed Forces.    » read more »

December 12, 2007 -- WASHINGTON — Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) celebrated the Senate approval late last night of a bill to reauthorize the Traumatic Brain Injury Act. This legislation expands the Public Health Services Act and provides individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) assistance in returning to work, finding a place to live, accessing needed supports and services, and obtaining appropriate rehabilitation services. The legislation now goes to the House of Representatives.    » read more »

11/30/2007 -- WASHINGTON - The Defense Center of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health (PH) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) began initial operations today. The DCoE will be fully functional by October 2009. It is currently operating in temporary office spaces in Rosslyn, Va., as part of its initial phase.    » read more »

08/03/2007 -- BOSTON – Senator John Kerry today introduced the Neuro-Optometric Center of Excellence bill today that would close the gap between traditional optometric care and the non-standard care that is required for patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Rough estimates say that there are almost 3,000 veterans who’ve returned from Iraq and Afghanistan that suffer from TBI.    » read more »