Lawmakers Want Watchdog for Tracking TBI in Military

(Dreamstime)

Lawmakers are reportedly pushing for a government watchdog to look into how the Pentagon is tracking traumatic brain injuries (TBI) among military service members.

In a letter released Thursday, 22 lawmakers led by Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked the Government Accountability Office to review Pentagon efforts to identify, prevent and treat traumatic brain injuries related to exposure to the concussive effect of munitions, Military.com reported.

There’s evidence troops are at risk of exposure to dangerous blast pressure not only from enemy bombs and attacks, but also from routine military activities like repeat artillery fire, the outlet noted, adding TBI is also linked to an increased risk of suicide among veterans.

In their letter, lawmakers asked the GAO to investigate not only who at the Defense Department is doing research on TBI, blast overpressure and blast exposure, but also how those efforts are coordinated and what improvements have been made to prevent, diagnose and treat injuries.

“The department needs to take more urgent action to mitigate blast overpressure and support service members. … Otherwise, troops will continue to struggle to get the care they need and deserve,” the letter stated.

The lawmakers pointed out that the Pentagon spent almost $3 billion on TBI research between 2020 and 2023, yet “major gaps remain in turning this research into action to better protect service members’ brain health, particularly to mitigate the impact of blast exposure and overpressure on service members.”

According to Military.com, top-ranking military officials have said military doctors were downplaying the severity of the injuries as far back as 2009 — affecting the care of hundreds of thousands of service members who suffered brain injuries in the years that followed.

Medical studies, including one published in 2022, have found the suicide rate among veterans who experienced a mild TBI was three times higher than the general population — and those with moderate to severe brain injuries were five times more likely to die by suicide.