Still needing change from the Department of Defense in classifying clinical treatment, the proposal of a North Carolina congressman is advancing that would establish a pilot program furnishing hyperbaric oxygen therapy at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act, known also as House Resolution 1336, has been the project of Rep. Dr. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., since arriving in Washington. HBOT, as the therapy is commonly known, is not in active-duty protocol for post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
PTSD and TBI each are treated as mental illness rather than injury. Critics of that choice say it is the pharmaceutical industry that benefits; both major parties each have critics and fans of Big Pharma within Congress.
The quest to get HBOT treatment spans more than 20 years, long before Murphy got to Washington.
In sharing the bill passed the full Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Murphy said, “Sadly, this nation loses more than 17 veterans a day from suicide. One of the greatest reasons for this is TBI/PTSD. Our veterans need new therapies to help combat the suicide epidemic. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a well-proven intervention that helps veterans suffering from TBI/PTSD and our veterans should have access to this at their VA.”
Murphy has authored his proposal in each of the last four Congresses. The Biden administration was strongly opposed. Republicans have the White House, and majorities of 53 in the Senate and 220 in the House of Representatives where there are two vacancies.
The treatment involves about 40 sessions. More than two dozen veterans in North Carolina have participated.
In a broader study, HBOT produced “one of the greatest reductions in PTSD symptoms in a four-week period with any reported treatment.” Prevention of suicide is the most compelling advocacy for the treatment.
