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2010 Congress: The Services and the “Signature Wound”

Sure, “Bloody Sunday” shows sports helmets need fixing. But what still resonates for me is the shocking state of our young warriors’ helmets and the little attention paid to the “Bloody Days” everyday in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The key issues of course are what’s being done to prevent these egregious combat-related head injuries and exactly who is responsible?

Our senior military leaders?  Congress?  A combination of both? 

If you Google “TBI congressional hearings” you get 23,000 hits, the majority of which ...

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New Helmet Sensor to detect Traumatic Brain Injuries

BAE Systems unveiled its latest concussion sensor for soldier helmets, named Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic System (“HEADS”).  Reportedly, about 7,000 1st generation sensors have already been installed in helmets of U.S. military warriors.   The new devices feature much more effective reporting capabilities that will hopefully help in getting medical attention quicker to those that need it.

The HEADS smart sensor is also designed to provide ...

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Absentee Leadership in DC and Afghanistan: Frankly ma’am, I don’t give a damn!

In an enlightening article on the current lack of leadership in DC and the killing fields of Afghanistan,  Leslie H. Gelb reports on the opening of a new medical facility in Bethesda, Maryland (near DC)  to treat active-duty soldiers and veterans suffering from brain injuries and psychological disorders. Unfortunately, this article is not about the brave men and women and their families who were on hand for the innauguration of this long overdue facility, but about those who chose not ...

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Is the military covering up the extent Traumatic Brain Injury?

In an explosive new report by ProPublica and National Public Radio (“NPR”) it would appear that the US military is seriously underestimating the brain damage or traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) caused by roadside bombs.   Officially, the military claims that 115,000 troops have suffered “mild” TBI, although ProPublica and NPR claim that “unpublished military reports” place the number much higher.

T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Daniel Zwerdling, NPR,   examined government records, previously undisclosed studies, and private correspondence between senior medical officials and ...

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Military Helmets: Traumatic Brain Injury

Dr. Charles Hoge, the U.S. Army’s senior mental health researcher at Walter Reed Hospital from 2002 to 2009 and now advisor to the Army Surgeon General, wrote an interesting piece for the Huffington Post in which he effectively dismissed the idea that there might be lingering effects from mild traumatic brain injury (“TBI”).    This article appears to have written to place the US Army “spin” on earlier report from the New York Times that a US Army ...

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