(The Center Square) – Veterans diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from repeated explosions complete suicide at more than twice the rate of civilians, suggesting a gap in treatment that congressional lawmakers want to fill.
U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., introduced legislation Monday called the Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide Act. It would fund studies that explore new treatments focused on neurorehabilitation, mental health outcomes and suicide prevention.
McCormick, a West Point graduate and decorated Army veteran, has centered his freshman congressional term around support for servicemembers and their families, including bills that would preserve military pay during government shutdowns and exclude disability income for homeless veterans applying for aid.
“Members of our nation’s military put their lives on the line in defense of our freedom and far too often are plagued by the physical and mental wounds of war when they return home,” said McCormick. “As I think about the soldiers I served alongside, I feel this issue deeply. Our veterans deserve access to innovative and groundbreaking TBI treatments that will enhance their quality of life and finally address the suicide epidemic among servicemembers.”
Rosen, daughter of a World War II veteran who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has partnered with McCormick before, including on the VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2025, which she introduced Nov. 6. The bill creates a pilot program for five VA health clinics to cover mental health services for veterans living in rural communities.
“Our veterans put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms, and they deserve every resource available to heal from the invisible wounds of service,” she said Monday. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to expand access to innovative treatments to improve long-term recovery and enhance the quality of life for veterans living with Traumatic Brain Injuries. As long as I’m in the Senate, I’ll always work across party lines to provide the men and women who serve our nation with the support and resources they deserve.”
In October, McCormick visited Aurelius Brain Health and Human Performance at Harrisburg University –a first program of its kind within the U.S. that offering a combination of exercise, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation to create dramatic improvements in cognitive performance and mental health.
Director Anson Flake says the multipronged approach promotes lasting healing to the brain’s physical structure.
The treatment program was developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts who knew that “if you move and if you provide oxygen to the brain and if you provide stimulation, TMS, that collectively, that synergistic, and it will rapidly heal the brain from injuries that usually are medicated,” Flake said.
He added that this holistic approach has fewer side effects than the medications that are often the first line of treatment for cognitive and psychiatric issues.
Christina Lengyel contributed to this report.
