Brain Injury Blog | Traumatic Brain Injury TBI

Town Hall Would Facilitate Discussion of Issues Facing America’s Military and Veteran Community, Including Traumatic Brain Injury

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) recently joined a consortium of non-profit organizations dedicated to serving active military, veterans, their families and their survivors, in inviting the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates to Fort Hood, Texas, for an in-depth discussion of the increasingly complex issues facing America’s military and veteran community. The CBS television network has agreed to produce and broadcast the very important Town Hall meeting in prime time on Monday, August 11, 2008. Continue Reading »

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ExxonMobil dodges $2 billion payout

A Supreme Court ruling this week slashes punitive damages stemming from the 1989 Valdez tanker disaster. In boardrooms across the country, top executives must be breaking out the champagne.

Click here to read more….

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ATLANTA — The elderly fear breaking a hip when they fall, but a government study indicates that hitting their head can also have deadly consequences: Brain injuries account for half of all deaths from falls. Continue Reading »

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Also this week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on H.R. 5613, legislation recently introduced which would place a moratorium until March 2009 on seven Medicaid regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.  BIAA has endorsed this legislation, and signed a letter of support spearheaded by the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) in favor of the legislation.

The legislation, which was introduced by Representatives John D. Dingell (D-MI) and Tim Murphy (R-PA) on March 13, 2008, would delay the implementation of seven harmful Medicaid regulations through March 2009, including several rules which would be especially deleterious to individuals with traumatic brain injury.

One of these rules would limit rehabilitation services for Medicaid beneficiaries, severely curtailing the ability of people with disabilities – including TBI – to receive rehabilitation services now covered under Medicaid.  Access to these rehabilitative services is essential, as in many cases, these services play a vital role in allowing people with TBI to live independently in the community.

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On Wednesday, April 2, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on TBI Related Vision Issues.

Testimony highlighted the high rate of vision disturbances in cases of servicemembers returing from Iraq and Afghanistan with TBI, and the need for a seamless system of care within the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs to address these eye injuries, including greater use of specialized vision screening.

In the hearing, the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) noted research showing that 75 percent of servicemembers with documented TBI injuries also have complaints about vision problems, and that approximately 60 percent of those injured have associated neurological visual disorders.  A study conducted by one of the panelists, Gregory L. Goodrich, who is a research psychologist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, found that both Polytrauma Level I and Level II patients had high rates of visual impairment and/or visual dysfunction, and that injuries caused by a blast event were associated with more vision related loss and/or deficits than other causes.

In his testimony, Tom Zampieri, Director of Government Relations at BVA, asserted, “At present the current system of screening, treatment, tracking, and follow-up care for TBI vision dysfunction is inadequate.  Adding visual dysfunction to this complex mix, especially if undiagnosed, makes attempts at rehabilitation even more daunting and potentially disastrous unless there are significant improvements soon.”

Mr. Zampieri urged the Subcommittee to request that DoD/VA provide for the full implementation of the “Military Eye Trauma Center of Excellence and Eye Trauma Registry,” which was recently authorized as one of the Wounded Warrior provisions in last year’s defense authorization bill (H.R. 4986).  BIAA has officially endorsed legislation (S. 1999) to create such a Center.

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This week BIAA submitted written testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee in charge of funding TBI programs within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education.  BIAA’s testimony urges an increase in Fiscal Year 2009 funding for programs authorized through the TBI Act, as well as for TBI research programs conducted within the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

In the testimony,  BIAA’s President and CEO Susan H. Connors states, “BIAA was gravely disappointed that last year, even as Congress had the good judgment to add hundreds of millions dollars to the budgets of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to help address the problem of TBI among returning servicemembers, funding for the HRSA Federal TBI Program was reduced from $8.91 million to $8.754 million.”

Within the testimony, BIAA requests $30 million in funding for programs authorized through the TBI Act, as well as sufficient funding to sustain and increase medical rehabilitation research within NIDRR.  The testimony also urges an allocation of at least $8.3 million to allow NIDRR to continue to fund 16 TBI Model Systems research centers.A copy of the testimony can be obtained by visiting BIAA’s website at the following address:  http://www.biausa.org/policyissues.htm.

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To celebrate March as Brain Injury Awareness Month, the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force is hosting a “2008 Brain Injury Awareness Day,” on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, on Capitol Hill.  Multiple events are planned, which are designed to educate Members of Congress and their staff about brain injury.

These events include an Awareness Day Fair, which will feature exhibits and informational materials from individuals and organizations working in the field of brain injury.  The day will also include a Congressional Briefing focused on the topic of “Traumatic Brain Injury and Community Needs.”  The end of the day will feature an early-evening Congressional Reception sponsored by various national advocacy organizations, including the National Brain Injury Treatment and Training Foundation (NBIRTT), the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) and the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA).

In addition, an informal advocacy training session will be held in the morning, where information on this year’s federal legislative agenda priorities related to TBI will be distributed.  Advocates attending the day’s events are encouraged to make appointments ahead of time to visit their representatives in Congress and to use these legislative agenda materials during meetings with lawmakers.

BIAA invites all advocates to attend “2008 Brain Injury Awareness Day” events, and to help educate Members of Congress and their staff.  The Day also represents an important opportunity to network with others interested in helping increase brain injury awareness.

2008 Brain Injury Awareness Day Schedule of Events

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Brain Injury Awareness Fair
First Floor Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. - Advocacy Training Session
1116 Longworth House Office Building

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. - Congressional Briefing on “Traumatic Brain Injury and Community Needs”
1116 Longworth House Office Building

Early Evening - Congressional Reception Celebrating Brain Injury Awareness Day
TBD

Please RSVP by Monday, March 3, 2008, to Hope Mandel in Congressman Bill Pascrell’s office if you wish to attend and/or exhibit materials during the Awareness Fair.  You may also contact Hope at (202) 225-5751 or Becky Wolfkiel in Congressman Platts’ office at (202) 225-5836 with questions or for more information.

In addition, as always, you may contact Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA’s Director of Government Affairs, at lschiebelhut@biausa.org, or 703-761-0750 ext. 637, for further clarification.

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Brain Injury Awareness Fair
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
First Floor Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building

Congressional Briefing on “Traumatic Brain Injury and Community Needs”
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
1116 Longworth House Office Building

Congressional Reception Celebrating Brain Injury Awareness Day
5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
2105 Rayburn House Office Building

Please RSVP by Monday, March 3, 2008, to Hope Mandel in Congressman Bill Pascrell’s office if you wish to attend and/or exhibit materials during the Awareness Fair.  You may also contact Hope at (202) 225-5751 or Becky Wolfkiel in Congressman Platts’ office at (202) 225-5836 with questions or for more information.  In addition, as always, you may contact Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA’s Director of Government Affairs, at lschiebelhut@biausa.org, or 703-761-0750 ext. 637, for further clarification.

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The Exxon Valdez litigation is coming to head….major news this week about the 2 decade long trial and new results on the people of Prince William Sound.

When a federal jury in Alaska in 1994 ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion to thousands of people who had their lives disrupted by the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, an appeal of the nation’s largest punitive damages award was inevitable.

For more…click here 

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