On May 21, the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on H.R. 984, a bill to direct the secretary of Defense to establish a task force on urotrauma, among other bills.
Chair Dan Benishek (R-MI) and Ranking Member Julia Brownley (D-CA) heard testimony from several witnesses, including Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), sponsor of H.R. 984. In his remarks, Rep. Guthrie explained, “Urotrauma accounts for wounds to the kidneys, reproductive organs, and urinary tract organs. These injuries are some of the most common and debilitating suffered by our veterans from IED [improvised explosive device] detonations and have long-lasting physical and psychological impacts.” He added, “[I]t is not my view that the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] and DoD [Department of Defense] are ignoring urotrauma. To the contrary, I believe that many skilled professionals are hard at work on the issue; but as is often the case in government, their efforts are divided, unintegrated, and because of this, less effective. By my tally, there are six government agencies currently working on urotrauma. And while I’m heartened that this research is occurring, I’m discouraged that there seems to be little dialogue or centralization of information. Put simply, we aren’t learning from experience and if we are, we’re learning too slowly.”
Mark Edney, MD, FACS, member, Legislative Affairs Committee and Urotrauma Task Force, American Urological Association, noted that, “As a complex injury, urotruama has not received the same policy attention and care coordination that has been afforded the more common injury patterns, such as extremity loss, traumatic brain injury, and eye injury – each with its own DoD center of excellence. Genitourinary injury is increasingly a critical military women’s health issue with women now able to serve in direct combat roles. We must do better with the study and care coordination of urotrauma.”
The following witnesses also testified regarding H.R. 984:
