{"id":73282,"date":"2023-04-05T18:20:04","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T18:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/05\/military-still-mismanaging-troops-traumatic-brain-injury-care\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:27:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:27:20","slug":"military-still-mismanaging-troops-traumatic-brain-injury-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2023\/04\/05\/military-still-mismanaging-troops-traumatic-brain-injury-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Military still mismanaging troops\u2019 traumatic brain injury care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly half a million service members suffered traumatic brain injuries<\/a> in the past two decades, but the Defense Department isn\u2019t sure exactly how many, how they are being treated or how they are doing now, according to the Pentagon\u2019s inspector general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A DoD inspector general report released Monday<\/a> found inconsistencies with how the military health system handles screening, tracking and treating brain injury, often because the existing <\/b>process is cumbersome. It concluded that DoD is \u201c<\/b>unable to accurate identify, treat and track\u201d incidents of brain injury across the forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report shows the Pentagon is still trying to grapple with the so-called invisible injury of war, after two decades of combat in the Middle East and South Asia, which means such injuries could plague the military population for decades to come, unacknowledged and untreated by the military health system or the veterans health system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report estimates at least 459,000 troops experienced brain injury while in service between 2000 and 2022, some of whom now suffer from chronic TBI symptoms<\/a>, which can effect service members\u2019 ability to deploy, job performance, and quality of life, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DoD has embraced the report\u2019s major recommendations, and is working to implement them, Navy Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman told Military Times on Wednesday. That includes developing a \u201cTBI Oversight strategy and action plan and the creation of a TBI Program of Record that addresses resourcing as well as standardized programming and referral standards,\u201d Schwegman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report recommends the Pentagon\u2019s health and personnel departments review the current brain injury diagnostic tool; make the 72-hour follow-up with a patient a requirement, not an option; create a standard protocol for that second appointment; and establish oversight to make sure the injuries are documented the same way across all services, the better to track them.<\/p>\n\n\n\t