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Press Release: NC Continues Leadership in Treating Veteran Brain Wounds

“Program results demonstrate remarkable improvements in treated veterans, including reduced PTSD symptoms, better cognitive function, and decreased suicidal ideation. Testimonials from veterans and families underscore HBOT’s life-changing impact.”

PRESS RELEASE

Arlington VA
16 January 2025

HBOT4HEROES today released its report to the North Carolina legislature: Military Veteran Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Program Report, 2023-24.

In 2019, North Carolina passed HB50, authorizing the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) to treat NC Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then, HBOT4Heroes has collaborated with the State of North Carolina, The The Community Foundation of NC East, and Extivita-RTP to deliver the NC HBOT for Veterans Program.

The collaborative effort continues a record of success with over 140 Veterans treated. Findings consistently demonstrate that HBOT is a highly effective intervention for military personnel experiencing post-concussion syndrome, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal ideation. Each cohort has shown significant improvements in key metrics, particularly in post-concussion symptoms and anxiety. This consistency underscores HBOT’s reliability as a treatment option, offering meaningful mental health and quality-of-life benefits for veterans and service members. Additionally, HBOT serves as a valuable suicide prevention strategy and a critical tool for enhancing military force retention.

Along with nine other states, North Carolina is filling a gap created by the Veterans’ Administration. Over 877,450 post 9/11 Veterans returned with TBI/PTSD. Most were undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Those who entered the care of the VA have been subjected to a standard of care well below what Veterans treated in North Carolina and Florida and Kentucky and Indiana have received.

Ten State governments have not only voted nearly unanimously to provide this care, but have appropriated over $32 Million, putting their money where their thoughts and prayers are. Numerous other states are drafting similar legislation while Congress, the VA, DoD and medicine in general refuse to recognize the over twenty peer-reviewed worldwide scientific studies demonstrating the safety and efficacy of using Hyperbaric Oxygenation to treat TBI/PTSD.

The Report emphasizes an immediate answer to the 15 published “suicide prevention” approaches produced at a cost of millions of dollars. Nevertheless, military suicide rates have continued an upward trend over the past 20 years. Included in the history of missed opportunities are documents provided by Congress, the White House, CDC, NIH, DoD and several military services. The official reports emphasize nearly everything except brain wound healing.

DoD and the VA continue to claim that Suicide Prevention is their #1 priority. Yet all their recommendations are silent on the physical damage done by TBIs, concussions, IEDs, friendly fire, and the need for brain wound healing. Consider their recommendations: 7 regarding firearms acquisition, safety and handling. • 7 on suicide prevention education and training. • 3 regarding military pay delays. • 1 on modernizing the military promotion system. • 1 regarding receiving enough sleep and shift changes. • 1 covering alcohol abuse. The report provides no scientific evidence or alternative rationale for any of these 20 recommendations; nor does it offer the causes of military suicide, which are being addressed by each of these recommendations. 

To be clear: alternative therapies need not displace any actions and interventions underway, but preventing access to brain wound healing is medical negligence and avoids root-cause analysis.

Veteran suicides exceed 151,000 since 9/11 with an ever-increasing upward trend. None of the treatments provided by the VA for TBI are approved by the FDA for TBI, nor backed by science showing brain healing efficacy. One of the disconnects is that the VA continues to define TBI under the category of mental health, thus avoiding the very real brain wounding that has occurred. Treating symptoms of brain damage is not treating the wound.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is proven worldwide to help heal brain wounds and restore patients to a Quality of Life denied them by current standards of care at the national level. More and more states like North Carolina are recognizing their obligations and offering help that a Veterans’ Administration 9.8% budget increase to $369.3 billion denies them.

North Carolina and other states have additionally recognized the cost savings secured by treating brain wounds which are costing U.S. taxpayers in excess of $118 Billion per year when brain wounds are not treated. The estimated cost for a forty year life span of those Veterans is $4.7 Trillion. TreatNOW estimates that for one-half of 1% of that cost, all 877,450 brain-wounded Veterans can be treated and restored to more normal lives, both for them and their families.

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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 AHI and Burn Pits. www.treatnow.org

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.