James C. Orcutt, MD, PhD, Chief Ophthalmology Consultant for the Veterans Health Administration, and Eric D. Weichel, MD, Director, Vitreo-Retinal Surgery, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, are among the American Academy of Ophthalmology members featured at a Capitol Hill briefing being held to increase Congressional support for the Military Eye Trauma Treatment Act of 2007 (H.R. 3558). The briefing is sponsored by the Academy, the Blinded Veterans Association and a range of other vision organizations.
The measure, which is backed by the Academy, would improve the Department of Defense and the Veterans Health Administrations’ ability to treat those serving on active duty who have suffered serious eye injuries. In addition, the legislation would provide for the establishment of a Center of Excellence dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of military eye injuries.
“The Academy wants to ensure that those serving on active duty and veterans of prior service are provided with excellent eye care and resources,” said Michael X. Repka, MD, the Academy’s federal affairs secretary. “This measure will really help to ensure that the transition from the battlefield to the VA is as seamless as possible for the patients involved.”
Between October 2001 and June 2006, more than 1,000 service-members with combat related eye trauma were evacuated from overseas military operations, making serious ocular injuries one of the most common types of injury experienced by service members serving in the Middle East. Many combat eye injuries require multiple surgical procedures and treatments at several facilities. In addition, a significant number of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are also experiencing vision impairment caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI); some 54 percent of soldiers treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who have traumatic brain injuries are reporting vision problems. As many as 16 percent of all soldiers returning from Iraq are experiencing significant vision dysfunction problems.
U.S. veterans seeking information on eye care and where to get it are encouraged to visit the Academy-sponsored Web site .