Edward M. Kennedy: “I urge the Senate to support the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1994. This legislation establishes new initiatives for…”

“I urge the Senate to support the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1994. This legislation establishes new initiatives for preventing traumatic brain injury, enhancing basic and applied research, and improving the quality of care. Traumatic brain injury has become the number one killer and cause of disability of young people in the United States, far outdistancing all other causes. Every year 90,000 people sustain a severe brain injury leading to irreversible and debilitating loss of function. Automobile accidents, sports accidents, falls, and increasing violence are the major causes of traumatic brain injury. Medical treatment, rehabilitative efforts and disability payments for such injuries cost $25 billion a year, and the emotional and financial burden for families is often unbearable. In 1988, Congress recommended that the Secretary of Health and Human Services establish an Interagency Head Injury Task Force to identify gaps in research, training, medical management and rehabilitation. This legislation responds to the needs identified by the task force. This bill will promote the coordination of health, social, vocational and educational services at the State level and assure greater access to such services for victims suffering from these injuries. By improving the quality of care and access to a broad range of services, we can reduce the severe disabling effects and the heavy toll of these injuries. The best treatment is still prevention.”