Back when Trent Lott was the senior Senator from Mississippi, he said during Congressional hearings on treating veteran brain wounds that “It’s funny in a sad way that I can get HBOT for my race horses but not for Veterans.” SEN Lott retired in 2007 and twenty years later his sentiment is still true, but with a twist. Not only are horses still getting healed with HBOT, but Veterans are probably going to get access under VA coverage to powerful psychedelics and dissociative hallucinogens while Congress continues to punt on using a safe, effective, scientifically validated, and widely available and inexpensive treatment. But we expect “more research” from a VA that claims on its web page: “We are the world’s leading research and educational center of excellence on PTSD and traumatic stress.” Notice they don’t say “We excel in clinical care” or “We cure what ails them and give them their lives back.” No, their measure of excellence is research and education. Perhaps in terms of amount of money spent, but in no way sufficient for the needs of the Veteran.

We draw your attention to the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), in use worldwide for 14 FDA-approved Indications, and already approved for wound healing. Over 12,500 Veterans have already seen their lives dramatically improved through brain wound healing using HBOT. Over 180 TreatNOW Coalition clinics have been healing Veterans for two decades using protocols demonstrated to be safe and effective in 28 peer-reviewed clinical studies. The entire country of Israel, starting with the IDF over a decade ago, have been using HBOT safely and effectively to heal TBI/PTSD/Blast injuries.

The Important message: HBOT is ready, today. It is in use, safe, effective, proven, and hugely economical over the current standards of care. Over 161,000 Veteran suicides continue the upward trend in relying on “more research” while DoD and the VA spend over $357 Billion over ten years on Suicide Prevention, the “#1 Clinical Priority.”

A major newspaper coined a new category for repetitive falsehoods, the “Bottomless Pinocchio.” These are falsehoods repeated at least twenty times. We are adding to the brain-wounded totals. We can only hope that we stay in the hundreds, not the tens and hundreds of thousands over the last twenty years. But in what is surely a first, DOD reported in less than two weeks that of at least 140 of the 290 U.S. troops reported wounded last month, 140 have been officially classified as TBI-related.

Three and a half weeks into the Iran Encounter, ABC reported over 200 US casualties. 140 were reported to be suffering from what used to be called “the invisible wounds of war,” TBI and PTSD.

Authorizing HBOT puts the US on an equal footing with Israel. It would start an immediate cost savings, rebuild force resilience, improve quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Veterans and their families, and is in keeping with the basic precepts of MAHA and their New Vision of Transformative Medical Care.

March is TBI Awareness Month, as the White House has reminded us. The Sea of Troubles at the VA and DoD is the suicide epidemic, their continuing #1 medical priority. It is also Academy Awards month. Up for Best Picture is HAMNET, named for William Shakespeare’s son, and the background to his revenge tragedy, Hamlet.

Hamlet’s reflections on Yorick’s skull is focused on death and revenge. The “Sea of Troubles” for Hamlet was bringing justice to his father’s murderer. For us and the families of the 159,000+ suicides, justice demands accountability for the Suicide Epidemic, and the memories of service members who died before their time.