Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

By Matthew M. Burke Stars and Stripes Published: March 17, 2012 SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is collecting video testimony from people suffering from traumatic brain injury, or TBI. About 1.7 million Americans suffer a traumatic brain injury each year, according to the CDC, with the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center estimating that since 2000, more than 233,000 of those TBI sufferers have been servicemembers or Department of Defense employees. Since March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, the CDC partnered with the CDC Foundation to launch the Heads Up TBI Film Festival, an online collection of video and written testimonials about traumatic brain injury. The initiative is designed to empower affected servicemembers and civilians to seek help and to place important information for diagnosis and treatment at the fingertips of survivors, caregivers, health care professionals, parents, coaches, children, and school professionals, according to Gail Hayes, senior press officer at the CDC Injury Center. The Heads Up initiative is a series of educational programs, that all have a common goal: to help protect people of all ages from TBI and its potentially devastating effects, Hayes said. The goal for the film festival is to … Continue reading →

A team of experts at San Antonio Military Medical Center has launched a military study aimed at improving outcomes for service members suffering from a signature wound of today's wars: traumatic brain injury. The Study of Cognitive Rehabilitation Effectiveness, dubbed the SCORE trial, is examining cognitive rehabilitation therapy's value as a treatment for service members with mild TBI. The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments teamed up on this study to determine the best treatment for combat troops who are experiencing mild TBI symptoms -- such as difficulties with attention, concentration, memory and judgment -- three to 24 months post-injury, explained Douglas B. Cooper, the study's lead and a clinical neuropsychologist for the center's Traumatic Brain Injury Service. We have a lot of great interventions to help in the first few days after concussion, he said in an interview with American Forces Press Service. We can pull them out, get them rest and get them better. However, We don't have as many good interventions later on six months, 12 months or two years post-injury, acknowledged Cooper, who also serves as the director of the Military Brain Injury Rehabilitation Research Consortium. The trial's aim is to determine if cognitive rehabilitation therapy improves … Continue reading →

Public release date: 16-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Carolann Murphy CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org 973-324-8382 Kessler Foundation West Orange, NJ -- On Wednesday, March 21, the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force brings representatives from the brain injury community to Capitol Hill for Brain Injury Awareness (BIA) Day. The day starts with the BIA Fair, where attendees share information on policy issues, research, diagnosis and screening and care and rehabilitation. The afternoon features a briefing on "The Impact of Brain Injury: Any Time, Any One, Any Age." William A.B. Ditto, MSW, LSW, past president & chair of Public Policy, National Association of State Head Injury Administrators, will moderate the discussion, focusing on how federal policy can help improve services and promote research that improves rehabilitation and treatment outcomes. Task Force co-chairs Rep. Bill Pascrell (NJ-08 ) and Todd Russell Platts (PA-19) will preside over the panel of experts from the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, Veterans Administration, National Association of States United for Aging & Disability, and Kessler Foundation. Panelist Jordan Grafman, PhD, is director of TBI Research at Kessler Foundation. Dr. Grafman's investigation of brain function and behavior contributes to advances in medicine, rehabilitation, and psychology, and … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressman asked the Pentagon on Tuesday to explain why the soldier accused in the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers was sent back into combat after earlier suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq, as lawmakers questioned how seriously the military deals with the mental health of troops. The Army staff sergeant accused in Sunday's shooting served three deployments to Iraq before he was sent to Afghanistan last year. The soldier, whose name has not been disclosed publicly, was treated for a traumatic brain injury suffered in a vehicle rollover in 2010 in Iraq, according to a U.S. official. Representative Bill Pascrell, founder of a U.S. congressional task force on brain injuries, wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting details of the accused soldier's injury, diagnosis, and when and how he was returned to combat duty. "I am trying to find out basically whether there was a premature 'OK' on this guy," Pascrell, a Democrat, said in a telephone interview. "This is not to excuse any heinous acts; we are all sickened by it. But dammit, we all have an obligation to prevent these things," Pascrell said. "If this soldier fell through the cracks, does that … Continue reading →

14-03-2012 08:53 democracynow.org - US lawmakers want the Pentagon to explain why the soldier accused in the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers was sent back into combat after suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq. We look at whether soldiers are receiving the mental health treatment they need with Kevin Baker, an Iraq War veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder from the same base as the Afghan shooting suspect, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. "It's not an isolated incident. It's not unique to Fort Lewis. This is a military-wide epidemic," Baker says. "The military is incapable of helping its servicemembers. These are young men and women from working families that join the military and put their lives on the line. And when they come home, they're not being treated properly." We also speak with ProPublica's Joaquin Sapien, co-author of an investigative series called "Brain Wars: How the Military Is Failing Its Wounded." Towatch the complete daily, independent news hour, read the transcript, download the podcast, and for Democracy Now! interviews about the Afghanistan war, please visit http://www.democracynow.org FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com Twitter: @democracynow Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com Listen on SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com Daily Email News Digest: http://www.democracynow.org Please consider supporting independent … Continue reading →

Published: March. 14, 2012 at 12:54 PM WASHINGTON, March 14 (UPI) -- Treating U.S. combat veterans with post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or both costs more than treatments for other veterans, officials say. A report by the Congressional Budget Office said the Veterans Health Administration spent about $2 billion in fiscal year 2010 to provide medical care to all recent combat veterans. One-in-4 recent combat veterans treated at Veterans Health Administration from 2004 to 2009 had a diagnosis of PTSD; 7 percent had a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury, the report said. Using data for recent veterans treated by Veterans Health Administration from 2004 to 2009, the report found: -- 21 percent were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder but not traumatic brain injury. -- 2 percent were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury but not PTSD. -- An additional 5 percent had both PTSD and traumatic brain injury. -- The remaining 72 percent had neither diagnosis. The report also found the average cost for the first year of treatment: See the original post: Treating veterans with PTSD costs more … Continue reading →

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/03/military-afghanistan-shooting-traumatic-brain-injury-031412w/ The chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force is pressing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to disclose whether the alleged shooter in Sundays Afghanistan massacre had previously suffered a traumatic brain injury. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., asked the Defense Department on Tuesday to provide details of the soldiers medical health, including information about the injury, any diagnoses and related evaluations, and the terms of reinstatement to full duty. Pascrell said the information is critical to determine whether the Pentagons identification and treatment of head injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder is sufficient. I make no prejudgments as to whether or not this injury is related the tragedy that occurred. Whether PTSD or TBI are connected in any way to this horrific loss of innocent life in Afghanistan is a question that will be answered by a full and through investigation, Pascrell wrote. But the information could lead to advanced care for troops, he said. Over the years, I have become increasingly concerned that the departments system for indentifying service members with traumatic brain injuries has not been working, he said. Sources have told The Associated Press the soldier, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, out of … Continue reading →

Soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, undergoing part of a grueling two-week training program for field medical staff. Photo: U.S. Army What spurred one American soldier to allegedly massacre 16 Afghan civilians earlier this week? Thats a complicated question, and one that could take military investigators months or years to figure out. What is known, among sparse details, is that this soldier suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). That factor will no doubt play a role in the militarys investigation, and it offers yet another reminder of the militarys awful track record in diagnosing and treating that ailment, widely known as one of the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In my years reporting on TBIs among soldiers and vets, its become increasingly apparent that problems in TBI management start even before a soldier deploys, and persist often with devastating results long after he or she comes home. We got hit a lot of times in Iraq, [so] I definitely got rattled around,Staff Sgt. Victor Medina, a soldier afflicted with TBI, told me in 2010. It wasnt until the fourth time we got hit, and I blacked out, that anyone took me to get looked at. Medina later … Continue reading →

The US Army sergeant who massacred 16 Afghan civilians is a trained sniper who had suffered a traumatic brain injury and had serious marital problems, it was disclosed yesterday. But somehow, the still-unidentified 38-year-old soldier was deemed fit for combat duty by the Army and sent to Afghanistan in December. It was his fourth tour to a war zone after three deployments in Iraq. The killer, a father of two, is accused of gunning down nine children, three women and four men in a 90-minute rampage. After he turned himself in, the soldier lawyered up and refused to say what prompted the atrocity, which threatens to poison crucial US-Afghan relations for years. AP NIGHTMARE: Afghans remove the body of one of the massacres 16 victims, slain by an unhinged GI who, incredibly, was cleared for active duty. When the sergeant, assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash., returned from his last deployment to Iraq, he had difficulty reintegrating, including marital problems, ABC News reported. Army officials, however, concluded that he had worked through those issues and was ready to go back to war. In Afghanistan, he was assigned to Camp Belamby, a remote outpost in Kandahar Province, where he provided protection for … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON - A U.S. congressman asked the Pentagon on Tuesday to explain why the soldier accused in the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers was sent back into combat after earlier suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq, as lawmakers questioned how seriously the military deals with the mental health of troops. The Army staff sergeant accused in Sundays shooting served three deployments to Iraq before he was sent to Afghanistan last year. The soldier, whose name has not been disclosed publicly, was treated for a traumatic brain injury suffered in a vehicle rollover in 2010 in Iraq, according to a U.S. official. Representative Bill Pascrell, founder of a U.S. congressional task force on brain injuries, wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting details of the accused soldiers injury, diagnosis, and when and how he was returned to combat duty. I am trying to find out basically whether there was a premature OK on this guy, Pascrell, a Democrat, said in a telephone interview. This is not to excuse any heinous acts; we are all sickened by it. But dammit, we all have an obligation to prevent these things, Pascrell said. If this soldier fell through the cracks, does that mean … Continue reading →