Traumatic Brain Injury Bill Clears Senate Committee

Washington – Sen. Orrin G. Hatch’s (R-Utah) Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2006 cleared the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) by unanimous vote. Hatch’s bill would reauthorize the only federal legislation specifically addressing issues faced by 5.3 million Americans who live with a long-term disability as a result of traumatic brain injury, or TBI.

“Sustaining a traumatic brain injury is catastrophic,” said Hatch, one of the principal authors of the original TBI law in 1996. “The financial and emotional costs are enormous – to the individual, the family, and the community. This bill will continue research in programs that will not only help prevent people from suffering brain injuries, but also enhance the long-term outcome of those who do.”

Brain injuries are the most frequent reasons for visits to physicians and emergency rooms, the most common causes being falls and car crashes. Of the 1.4 million people in the United States who sustain a TBI, 50,000 die, 235,000 are hospitalized, and 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.

The TBI Act authorizes the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to fund research on TBI, provide education and prevention programs and make available protection and advocacy services. Hatch’s bill, S. 3668, would reauthorize these programs through 2010, authorize a new study through CDC and NIH to determine the incidence and prevalence of TBI and instruct HRSA and the Administration on Developmental Disabilities to coordinate data collection regarding protection and advocacy services.

Hatch’s bill was added to another measure, S. 1531, the Keeping Seniors Safe from Falls Act, that was approved by the HELP Committee. With this approval, the joint measure is set to be considered by the full Senate.