Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, issued a statement on December 4, 2008, calling for increased Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) screening and research, in direct response to the IOM report Gulf War and Health, Volume 7: Long-term Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury. Sen. Murray said she will work with the Obama administration to implement the recommendations outlined by the Institute of Medicine, including increased TBI screening and research.
The IOM report raised concerns that in all its forms, TBI affects service members far into the future and that more needs to be done to help them today. It also provides a blueprint for the work needed to address the signature injury of the Iraq War. "Veterans struggling with headaches, memory loss, depression and the other effects of TBI are often confused and unsure of where to turn," Murray says. "They deserve to know that we are taking every step to reach out to them, track their health problems, and provide the very best treatments available."