Military Encounters lead to TBI

Three and a half weeks into the Iran Encounter, ABC reported over 200 US casualties. 140 were reported to be suffering from what used to be called “the invisible wounds of war,” TBI and PTSD. An updated report says that 290 US troops have been wounded in the fighting.

A quick summary of dead and wounded is illustrative of the mounting brain wounding crisis, and points to an on-going incapacity of the U.S. military to deal adequately with brain wounded casualties. Recall the 125+ rocket attacks in Syria in 2023 and 2024 where at least 49 TBIs to service members went unreported until wiser heads prevailed. As always in dealing with uncomfortable numbers in the military, the number of actual brain wounds is thought to be much higher. Congress in 2020 asked that the DOD measure blast pressure troops were exposed to and track blast exposure history routinely, but that still hadn’t been done almost four years later.

Since October 7, 2023, in all sectors of conflict, among all populations, there have been an estimated 193,674 KIA and over 245,768 wounded. Of those, the Iran Encounter has resulted in 6,889 KIA and 23,551 wounded. Important to note, only Israeli armed forces and civilians have access to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for healing.

An average of 38 percent of Americans approve of the job President Trump is doing right now, according to a new Washington Post average of polls in the second half of March. Unsurprisingly, nearly 100% of Congress and citizens agree that we need to take better care of Veterans. Given the increase in wounded amidst the suicide epidemic (over 161,000 suicides since 9/11, with a daily rate of 17.6), it would make sense politically, militarily, medically, financially and morally for the Administration to immediately expand the care for the newly wounded and the 877,450 previously brain wounded.

Authorizing HBOT puts the US on an equal footing with Israel. It would start an immediate cost savings, rebuild force resilience, improve quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Veterans and their families, and is in keeping with the basic precepts of MAHA and their New Vision of Transformative Medical Care.

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On March 25, Senator Angus King and other Senators and House members introduced bicameral, bipartisan legislation to support mental health services for incarcerated veterans. The Get Justice-Involved Veterans Behavioral Assistance and Care for Key Health Outcomes to Maintain Empowerment (BACK HOME) Bill would catch up with the 49 states which have already instituted Veterans Courts, and the thirteen states that have passed legislation calling for the use of HBOT for TBI/PTSD. The nation’s first treatment court specifically developed for veterans was started on January 4, 2008, in Buffalo, New York, by Judge Robert Russell. 

As of December 2024, VA Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) Specialists report serving in 731 Veterans Treatment Courts and other veteran-focused court programs across the U.S. Sadly, the efforts are mostly home-grown, with no national coordination or funding.

Veterans courts rest on a single core idea: a veteran’s crimes are often symptoms, not character flaws. The underlying logic is that military service — particularly combat — can fundamentally alter a person through PTSD, traumatic brain injury, moral injury, and substance abuse that develops as self-medication for those wounds. When those veterans end up in the criminal justice system, the conventional court’s response of punishment doesn’t address what actually drove the behavior.

So the Veterans courts flip the question. Instead of asking “what punishment fits this crime?” they ask “what treatment does this person need?” Unfortunately, the treatments rarely include healing underlying brain wounds. Courts, acceding with VA “standards of care”, allow Veterans to seek help, but judges are limited in their knowledge of what actually works long term to heal the wounds from polytrauma acquired in combat.

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In other news, New York State, home to nearly 560,000 Veterans, reports that, despite ongoing efforts, suicide remains a persistent and devastating public health crisis among veterans there. Recently released data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs show that suicide rates among New York’s veterans have reached their highest rate in over 20 years. In 2023, New York veterans died by suicide at more than twice the rate of the general population. Veteran suicide rate rose sharply to 24.9 per 100,000 —a 25.8% increase. The general population’s suicide rate declined slightly to 10.7 per 100,000 —a 1.8% decrease from 2022.

Addressing the suicide crisis for NY Health Foundation, former VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin and David Sandman, PhD, continue the ineffective hand-wringing about data collection, palliatives, the lack of psychedelic assistance, and the need for rapid reporting systems. Lost on them is that 161,000 suicides among service members is an epidemic that is NOT going to be stopped by data collection or A.I. Even if EVERY potential suicide could be predicted and stopped, there are STILL over 877,450 Veterans — the numbers are growing again — with TBI/PTSD who require brain wound healing.

A simple solution for the Executives. Take the multiple wins, Mr. President, Secretaries Kennedy and Collins. Issue an Executive Order to make HBOT available to active duty and Veterans and use appropriated “suicide prevention” billions to fund all the brain-wounded.

HBOT Heals Brains, Stops Suicides, Restores Lives. TreatNOW.

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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of Concussion, BLAST injury, mild TBI, Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from Operator Syndrome, AHI, and Burn Pits. No Veteran or civilian has ever been killed or hurt while undergoing HBOT treatment for TBI/PTSD.

Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.