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Congressman Grayson: Spare More Troops From Permanent Brain Damage

Press Release

Date: March 10, 2010
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Military Personnel Veterans Health and Health Care

Congressman Grayson: Spare More Troops From Permanent Brain Damage

Congressman Grayson today highlighted a sad side effect of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 15 percent of American troops return home with permanent brain damage. That means 7,500 of the 50,000 troops sent as part of the latest troop surge will suffer a similar fate. The information comes from a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study concluded that troops with mild traumatic brain injury were significantly more likely to report poor general health, missed workdays, and medical visits, than were other soldiers. In other words, months or years after returning home, our troops will still be fighting the effects of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Congressman Grayson made the point while speaking in favor of a resolution (H. Con. Res. 248), which calls for withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.


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