VA: Six Percent of Combat Vets Have Serious Brain Injuries

VA Says Six Percent of Combat Vets Have TBIs
By Rick Maze
The Army Times

Sunday 04 November 2007

About 6 percent of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans seeking treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries, according to preliminary data released Friday.

A VA mandatory screening program that took effect in April has looked at 61,285 veterans of the wars. Of those, 19.2 percent were identified on the screening questionnaire as potentially suffering from traumatic brain injuries and were referred for more tests.

While evaluation continues, VA spokeswoman Alison Aikele said officials believe, based on a smaller sample, that the final result about 5.8 percent will be diagnosed with TBI.

Aikele said it is too soon to draw any conclusions from the screening because the program has been under way for only a few months. Until there is more screening and evaluation, VA officials do not want to jump to any sweeping conclusions about brain injuries, she said.

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Murray Urges Bush to Approve Veterans' Benefits Legislation
By Gopal Ratnam
Bloomberg

Saturday 03 November 2007

Senator Patty Murray urged President George W. Bush to approve legislation he has threatened to veto that would pay for veterans' programs including treatment for war wounds and mental health.

Democratic lawmakers, ignoring the president's veto threat, plan to send a $750 billion appropriations bill next week to the White House that will include $65 billion for veterans' affairs. Veterans Day is Nov. 11.

"It's wrong to ignore these needs and neglect our veterans," Murray, Democrat from Washington and head of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said in the Democratic Party's radio address today. U.S. troops "deserve better than to have the president block this bill to make a political point."

By combining the bills into one measure, Democrats are forcing Bush to accept a $10 billion increase in domestic spending for education, health care and job training or veto legislation benefiting active and retired military personnel.

Bush has called the Democratic plan a "cynical ploy," and congressional Republicans have said it would delay funding for the Veterans Health Administration.

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