Sens. Moran, King Introduce Legislation to Establish Research on Low-Level Blast Injuries Impacting Veteran Mental Health

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Angus King (I-Maine) – members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee – introduced the Precision Brain Health Research Act of 2024 to direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other research partners to comprehensively study the impacts of repetitive low-level blast injuries on veterans’ mental health.

The legislation builds off the Precision Brain Health Initiative in the Commander John Scott Hannon Mental Health Care Improvement Act. This bill would require VA to create a ten-year research plan to establish the effects of repetitive low-level blast injuries, where benchmarks must be reported to Congress, in order to develop further legislation for veterans who suffer with the effects of these repetitive blast exposures.

“Recent studies have tied low-level blasts, which servicemembers are exposed to during training and in combat, to high rates of brain and mental health conditions, as well as suicides,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation will help us start to better understand why and how blast exposures are impacting servicemembers and veterans and make certain VA is able to quickly incorporate these findings into clinical care for our veterans to receive a diagnosis and a treatment plan. This legislation will help make certain veterans have the evidence-based health care and benefits they deserve, and I look forward to its passage.”

“Traumatic brain injuries are a common, yet misunderstood and often undetectable, injury — and they can be traced to large blasts in small amounts or smaller blasts that add up over time, so we need to address them in all their forms,” said Sen. King. “We have a duty to expand our understanding of the impact these blasts have on mental health, and to protect the long-term health and well-being of our military community. Here in Maine we know all too well the horrible tragedies that can occur when TBIs are left untreated. This commonsense bill builds off of previous efforts to ensure we deliver on our promise to provide our servicemembers, veterans and their families the very best care and support.”

The full text of the bill can be found here.