Sun editorial:

Recognition at last

Disability upgraded for veterans with lasting damage from mild brain injuries

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

Long after it was accepted in medical circles, the Veterans Affairs Department is finally acknowledging that even mild brain injuries can result in long-term harm.

Active-duty troops or veterans diagnosed with “mild traumatic brain injuries,” also called concussions, may very well fully recover. In fact, most do.

But for the troops and veterans who do not recover — the VA says disability claims approved for this injury are averaging about 800 a year — life will never be the same.

The VA is just now reconciling itself to that fact. It announced this week that veterans whose concussions — often brought on by explosions — resulted in permanent damage will be rated 40 percent disabled beginning next month. Previously, their disability was rated at 10 percent, based on regulations written in 1961.

There is no good reason why it took the VA so long to make this determination, which will significantly increase disability payments for affected veterans.

Much has been learned about concussions since 1961. In fact, just months into the Iraq war, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prepared a report on this subject for Congress.

“In recent decades, public health and health care communities have become increasingly aware that the consequences of mild traumatic brain injury may not, in fact, be mild,” the report stated. “These injuries may cause long-term or permanent impairments and disabilities.”

The report was based on case histories of civilians, not deployed troops, but it should have caught the attention of the VA.

Blurred vision, headaches, difficulty in concentrating, dizziness, insomnia, irritability, memory loss and ringing in the ears are some of the reported symptoms of this injury.

The symptoms are obviously enough to prevent many sufferers from holding a job or even getting a job — something the VA should have acknowledged through its disability rating years ago, and certainly before our troops began being exposed to bomb blasts in Afghanistan and Iraq.