Between 2000 and 2018, more than 380,000 military personnel were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI), which has been an increasing cause of injury and disability in the military since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began.
Veterans with service-related TBI can seek monthly monetary benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through a six-step process that assigns compensation based on the severity of their disability. A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides recommendations to the VA to improve the quality of its disability determination process for TBI. The report, “Evaluation of the Disability Determination Process for Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans,” assesses the credentials and training that health care providers need to diagnose TBI; the adequacy of the VA’s diagnostic tools and protocols; and the transparency of the adjudication process.
Advance copies of the report will be available to reporters only starting at noon EDT on Tuesday, April 9.
The report is embargoed and not for public release before 11 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 10.
Reporters who wish to obtain copies should contact the Office of News and Public Information at tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail news@nas.edu.