ENZI: SENATE APPROVES BILL TO TREAT TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

Washington, D.C. –U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Member of theSenate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today applauded theSenate for unanimously approving and sending to the President for his signaturelegislation to help treat Americans, including returning soldiers, living with traumaticbrain injury (TBI). “Each year, approximately 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury,causing significant, often lifelong and sometimes fatal, disability and discomfort,” Enzisaid. “The ‘Reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act’ will boost programs tohelp people live with the effects of a traumatic brain injury.” The “Reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act,” S. 793, which theSenate passed yesterday evening, will establish a study through the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to determinethe incidence and prevalence of traumatic brain injury, identify common therapeuticinterventions, and develop rehabilitation guidelines. It reauthorizes grant programs tocoordinate TBI services, and continues valuable research programs conducted by theNIH. The bill will assist wounded warriors returning from the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, especially as they return to civilian life. Enzi, a co-sponsor of the bill, added: “The costs associated with having a TBI arehigh, and this legislation helps give people access to the therapies, interventions,community services, and supports that are needed.” According to the CDC, of the 1.5 million Americans who sustain a traumatic TBIeach year, around 50,000 die and another 80,000 to 90,000 experience long-term orlifelong disabilities as a result. Among children between birth and age 14, there areapproximately 475,000 TBIs a year, resulting in some of the highest numbers of injuriesamong children under the age of five. ####