Washington, D.C. -  Yesterday, The President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, led by former Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala issued its report on military health care. Included in the report were several recommendations for improving care for service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of the recommendations in the commission’s report calls on the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Veterans Administration (VA) to “aggressively….treat Traumatic Brain Injury.” In April, Congressman Donnelly introduced H.R. 2048, The Traumatic Brian Injury Access to Options Act which aims to provide injured service members and their families with more options to obtain the best possible medical care. The need for Donnelly’s TBI legislation is reinforced by the findings of the Dole-Shalala Commission.

“TBI is the signature injury of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan due to the increased use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs),” Donnelly said. “In order for these individuals to get the best possible results, the care they receive must be state-of-the-art.  The Dole-Shalala report further confirms that our military healthcare system is not currently prepared to fully handle the large number of returning service members with an injury of this complexity. I hope that other Members of Congress and public figures will join us in calling for improvements in how our men and women in uniform with TBI are cared for when they return from service abroad.”

In March, President Bush named Dole and Shalala to lead the nine-member commission to “conduct a comprehensive review of the care America is providing our wounded servicemen and women returning from the battlefield” after The Washington Post revealed several problems encountered by service men and women at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The Commission Recommendations in full:

1. Implement comprehensive Recovery Plans
2. Restructure disability and compensations systems
3. Improve care for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
4. Strengthen support for families
5. Transfer patient information across systems
6. Support Walter Reed until closure

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