COLUMBUS, Ohio – An Ohio lawmaker wants make it easier for veterans to file claims for benefits when they suffer from “invisible injuries” like post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has introduced the Significant Event Tracker Act, which requires more documentation of possible injuries from the front lines which may remain undetected or undiagnosed for years.
“These are often decades later when we find these out and that’s why the information is so important to be collected on the battlefield and in the unit at the time,” Brown said in an interview for “Perspective” on Sunday, June 1.
He announced the legislation during a visit Wednesday to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1598 in Columbus, known as the Buckeye Post.“
Brown says his legislation is intended to address the nearly 300,000 American veterans suffering from PTSD, another 300,000 with traumatic brain injury, 25,000 of whom are thought to have sustained “mild traumatic brain injury,” which may not have immediate medical consequences but may take a toll cumulatively, like mild concussions suffered by athletes. The injuries leave no scar, Brown says, but can still necessitate treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“The costs of war we need to consider more when we send our young men and women into battle,” he said.
Brown credits Michael Fairman, a Columbus combat veteran, with helping come up with the bill.
The Department of Defense already keeps records of significant events, like roadside bombings, for every military unit but Brown says the events are not transferred to the files of individual members of that unit. Brown’s measure would allow unit commanders to create “significant event” reports documenting unit and individual exposures to traumatic events that might cause PTSD, mild TBI or other injuries later. The Pentagon would furnish those documents to the VA to ensure better treatment and faster processing of claims, Brown said.
“When veterans seek claims for war-related injuries like post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury, the burden for establishing the connection should be on the Department of Defense, not on the veteran,” Brown said.