|
 |
 |
|
By David P.
Gilkey, USA
Today/Detroit Free
Press |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 TROOPS
EXPOSED
|
|
 |
|
About 1.4 million
troops have served
in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Pentagon research
indicates that:
11% to 28% of combat
troops may have been
exposed to bomb
blasts and suffered
at least mild
traumatic brain
injury.
30% of Iraq and
Afghanistan
casualties treated
at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center have
been diagnosed with
mild, moderate or
severe traumatic
brain injury. |
|
|
|
|
By
Gregg
Zoroya, USA TODAY
The Pentagon lacks a comprehensive plan to
identify and treat tens of thousands of
troops who may suffer from traumatic brain
injury, the signature wound of the Iraq war,
according to a previously undisclosed
Defense Department memorandum obtained by
USA TODAY.
The memo was released this week in response
to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Troops with mild and moderate brain injury
are of greatest concern, the Armed Forces
Epidemiological Board, now part of a new
Defense Health Board, said in the Aug. 11
memo.
DOCUMENT:
Defense
Department memo
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/zoroyaencl3.pdf)
The board's finding has surfaced as the
Army's medical care for Iraq veterans comes
under harsh criticism in Congress following
disclosures by
The Washington Post of soldiers
facing bureaucratic delays and substandard
housing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The memo said the Pentagon should take the
lead in "tackling the issue of TBI
(traumatic brain injury) given our current
wartime challenges." It was signed by Wayne
Lednar, an epidemiologist, and
Gregory Poland, chief of the Defense Health
Board.
"There remains a need to better understand
the unique characteristics of
blast-associated TBI and to reduce the
health risk and complications from mild or
moderate forms of brain injury," the memo
said.
Lednar and Poland did not return
calls for comment.
The panel drafted the report after receiving
evidence of traumatic brain injury during a
closed hearing in March 2006.
The Pentagon's best work on TBI was on the
most severe cases, the memo said. It noted
that mild cases are hard to spot and can
limit mental performance. Multiple
concussions, the report said, can cause
permanent damage.
Among the panel's recommendations: improved
protective gear, standardized battlefield
methods to spot brain injuries, better ways
to determine when a injured soldier can
return to duty and screening all returning
troops for brain injury.
In response, the Pentagon said Wednesday it
is spending $14 million for more research on
blast injuries and giving medics in combat
zones evaluation forms to diagnose mild
brain injury. "Our goal is to identify TBI
as soon as possible," said Pentagon
spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., an advocate of
improved brain injury treatment, called the
panel's finding "outrageous." She added,
"Four years into the war and we still don't
have a
systemwide plan."
Without a comprehensive approach, it is left
to family members to notice something
mentally wrong with a loved one back from
combat, says Janice
Ruoff, a brain injury expert at
George Washington University.
|
